l88 REPORTS ON INVESTIGATIONS AND PROJECTS. 



THE METABOLISM OF NORMAL INFANTS. 



The increasing importance of studying the metabolism of infants in disease 

 has led to a great desire on the part of physicians for information regarding 

 the normal metabolism of both breast-fed and bottle-fed infants. Dr. Fritz B. 

 Talbot, of Boston, has taken great interest in this problem, and has instituted 

 a series of researches with an especially accurate respiration apparatus for 

 studying the carbon-dioxide production of infants. The research has pro- 

 ceeded sufficiently to show that apparently minor muscular movements, such 

 as a slight change in position of the hands or feet in an otherwise apparently 

 perfectly quiet infant, may result in an enormous increase in the metabolism. 

 The graphic records of body movements secured by means of the suspended 

 crib inside the chamber have proved of invaluable assistance in interpreting 

 the metabolism, and have led to fundamentally new conceptions regarding 

 the influence of minor muscular exercise upon the metabolism of infants. 

 It is proposed to undertake the investigation of pathological cases in the near 

 future. 



INFLUENCE OF THE INGESTION OF FOOD ON METABOLISM. 



The fact that after the ingestion of food there is a noticeable rise in the 

 heat production, carbon-dioxide elimination, and oxygen absorption, has not 

 been denied by any investigator. But opinions vary widely when an attempt 

 is made to explain the cause of this rise. The problem has been under obser- 

 vation for several years, both here in this laboratory and formerly in the 

 chemical laboratory at Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Connecticut. 

 In the research carried out in the Nutrition Laboratory the past year, special 

 emphasis has been laid upon the influence of the ingestion of various kinds 

 and amounts of carbohydrates. Both the respiration calorimeter and the 

 respiration apparatus have been successfully employed, although the latter 

 has been used more frequently. The research is far from complete, however, 

 and active experimenting is in progress nearly every day. 



SIMULTANEOUS STUDY OF BODY TEMPERATURE. 



The simultaneous study of temperature in different parts of the body, re- 

 ferred to in the previous report, has been conducted during the past year by 

 Mr. Edgar P. Slack. For this research, specially devised thermo-electric 

 thermometers were used in connection with a constant-temperature oven, 

 and simultaneous observations were made of the temperature in the mouth, 

 rectum, and vagina, and in various superficial cavities, such as the axilla and 

 groin. The thermal gradient of the body was also studied, and the results of 

 measurements with the clinical thermometer and with the thermo-electric 

 thermometer were compared. The research showed that, with the exception 

 of the skin temperature, a rise or fall in temperature in any part of the body 

 is accompanied by an equal rise or fall in temperature of the other parts of 

 the body. Incidentally, many other points of interest regarding body tem- 

 perature were brought out, especially with reference to the thermal gradient 



