284 DEPARTMENTAL EEPORTS. 



these investigatious bj* Mr. Mallinckroclt during- the past year. These 

 investigations were carried on under the general supervision of Pro- 

 fessor Atwater. 



Several j^ears ago Miss Amelia Shapleigh, under the supervision of 

 Mrs. E. H. Richards, now of the Boston Institute of Technology, carried 

 on an extended series of dietary studies with the families of working- 

 men. This material, which was never published in detail, has been 

 furnished to this Office and has been edited during the past year, with 

 the cooperation of Mrs. Richards, and is practically ready for j)u blica- 

 tion. The report will also include the results of dietary studies made 

 in 1901-1902 at the Boston School of Housekeeping. The work carried 

 on by Miss Shapleigh and Mrs. Richards is of interest in itself and 

 useful for j^urposes of comparison, especially in fixing upon dietary 

 standards. 



At the University of Vermont, located at Burlington, Prof. J. L. 

 Hills has carried on 5 dietary studies, one w'ith the family of a pro- 

 fessional man and the others with farmers' families. The investiga- 

 tion necessitated a large number of analyses. 



Prof. C, E. Wait, of the University of Tennessee, at Knoxville, has 

 carried on 4 dietary studies with white families in poor circumstances 

 and 10 natural digestion exjperiments with men on a diet consisting 

 principally of legumes. The work is in continuation of earlier inves- 

 tigations along the same lines. The dietary studies furnish informa- 

 tion regarding the food habits of a portion of the population of this 

 country of which little has been definitely known, and are also useful 

 for purposes of comparison and in a consideration of the problem of 

 the food of man in relation to the production of useful work. The 

 digestion experiments with dried legumes furnish information regard- 

 ing the thoroughness of assimilation of these materials, which are 

 directly comparable with meat as regards the proportion of protein 

 they can furnish the body. The importance of dried legumes (peas, 

 beans, lentils, etc.) has been recognized since earliest times. The 

 importance of some knowledge of the thoroughness with which these 

 materials are assimilated and the comparative nutritive value of dif- 

 ferent sorts of legumes is obvious. Very little definite information of 

 this sort was available when the investigations were begun. 



Dr. H. C. White, president of the Georgia State College of Agricul- 

 ture and Mechanic Ai-ts, at Athens, has begun nutrition investigations 

 with special reference to securing information regarding local food 

 habits and food conditions. One 30-day dietary study in the students' 

 mess hall has been completed and additional investigations are 

 planned for. 



At Columbia University, New York City, Dr. H. C. Sherman has 

 continued his investigation of the comparative metabolism of nitrogen, 

 suli)hur, and phosphorus, the work necessitating considerable study 

 of methods and a large number of analyses. The results obtained 

 have been edited and are practically ready for publication. These 

 experiments, though quite technical, have an important bearing on 

 nutrition, one of the objects being to furnish information on the pro- 

 teids which are actually metabolized in the body and the length of 

 time which must elapse before the excretion of the cleavage products of 

 proteids consumed at any given time. Closely connected with this is 

 the question of the comparative nutritive value of different i^roteids 

 of animal and vegetable organisms. In this report is included a review 

 of the general literature of the subject studied. 



In a number of instances there has been cooperation with institu- 



