NUTRITION LABORATORY.^ 



Francis G. Benedict, Director. 



When the Nutrition Laboratory was estabhshed there already- 

 existed several well-endowed, adequately manned, and highly pro- 

 ductive organizations for medical and pathological research. It was 

 accordingly felt that the efforts of the new Laboratory would best 

 be directed toward studies of pure physiology, particularly human 

 physiology, for it was the consensus of opinion that human physiology, 

 especially studies of heat-production and gaseous transformations 

 in the body, had such significance in its relation to general physiology 

 that it should no longer be relatively neglected. 



Shortly after the opening of the Laboratory a pronounced departure 

 from this general thesis was made by instituting a research on dia- 

 betes, in collaboration with Dr. Elliott P. Joslin, of Boston. This 

 procedure has been fully justified by the extraordinary degree of 

 cooperation given to it by Dr. Joslin, not only in the scientific conduct 

 of the investigation, but in the actual financing of the undertaking, 

 as well as in the preparation of reports. The selection of this special 

 topic for investigation was particularly appropriate, since diabetes, 

 like almost no other disease, is amenable to treatment and control only 

 through dietetic measures. The two monographs already printed by 

 the Institution have been supplemented by several medical papers 

 and two books by Dr. Joslin, and a third monograph in the series is 

 now in preparation. 



In addition to these positive contributions to the field of medicine, 

 there has been in recent years a utilization by the medical profession of 

 much of the abstract physiological data accumulated by the Laboratory 

 staff and by a large number of volunteer workers at the Nutrition 

 Laboratory during the past 14 years. As the resultant of all internal 

 glandular and muscular activities incidental to the maintenance of life 

 is heat, its measurement gives the best expression of the intensity of 

 vital activity. Accordingly, the Laboratory early entered upon a sur- 

 vey of the heat-production of the quiet, normal human body from birth 

 to old age. This was undertaken primarily as a study in pure physi- 

 ology and proceeded to such an extent as to provide material for a 

 somewhat elaborate biometric treatment by Dr. J. Arthur Harris, which 

 has been published by the Institution. These data have been exten- 

 sively used by physicians as standards for comparison with pathological 

 measurements. 



The techniques employed in the study referred to were somewhat 

 complicated. Since in certain diseases, notably those involving the 

 thyroid gland, there are marked changes in the level of heat-production, 

 the physician requires some relatively simple method for measuring 



'Situated in Boston, Massachusetts. 



295 



