INTRODUCTION. 



For many years the Nutrition Laboratory has been studying the 

 possibility of variations in nutritional levels, searching more especially 

 for individuals or classes of individuals with a noticeably low metabo- 

 lism. To this end evidence has been sought in experiments with a man 

 having but one lung; with individuals claiming to subsist upon con- 

 siderably less food than an ordinary individual; with vegetarians; with 

 a man fasting for a period of 31 days; and with diabetic patients under- 

 going the Allen fasting treatment and subsequent low diet. None of 

 these researches, however, gave definite evidence of a low metabolism 

 except those carried out under the somewhat abnormal conditions of 

 a complete fast and severe diabetes. 



While the regular accumulation of experimental data regarding basal 

 metabolism has proceeded unabated, the establishment or the discovery 

 of subnormal metabolism was less accentuated since only negative 

 results had previously been obtained. Recently, however, interna- 

 tional complications, causing great food stringency in different parts 

 of the war region, have again called our attention to the problem of low 

 metabolism and undernutrition. 



The tremendous efforts of the Central Powers of Europe to with- 

 stand the food blockades of their opponents resulted in a most sur- 

 prising development of food substitutes, many of these being prepared 

 from materials formerly used for stock feeding. A complete economic 

 system was thus developed to secure the proper distribution and 

 rationing of the various food materials. Notwithstanding this use 

 of unusual foodstuffs, the rations of the civilian population of Ger- 

 many were severely curtailed. Most of the early information as to 

 dietetic conditions in Germany, which can be considered as hsLving 

 scientific merit, was brought to this country by Professor Alonzo E. 

 Taylor, formerly assigned to the United States embassy in BerUn. 

 The statistical evidence which he secured in Berhn through his oflSce, 

 by the cooperation of Dr. E. Rost of the Gesundheitsamt and of Pro- 

 fessor Rubner, and from innumerable ration cards, shows that the 

 Central Powers as a whole were compelled, on account of war con- 

 ditions, to adopt a materially lowered ration. This gigantic experi- 

 ment proves conclusively that such changes are not only possible, but 

 are not necessarily cataclysmic. They therefore challenge the scien- 

 tific world for explanation. 



As compensatory consequences of ration curtailment, only a general 

 loss in body-weight is reasonably demonstrated. Statistically this 

 hardly seems proportional to the diet curtailment, and evidence re- 

 garding a possible general reduction in physical activity is absent. 



3 



