252 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



no increased metabolism, although resulting in voluminous stools, pointed 

 towards a complete refutation of the mechanical theory of the increased heat 

 production. On the other hand, the results of studies in which sugar and 

 other selected foodstuffs were given and particularly of experiments with 

 diabetics and with normal individuals in acidosis led to the belief that the 

 increase in the metabolism is due to " specific katabolic stimuli," probably of 

 an acid nature, absorbed from the food materials in their passage through 

 the alimentary canal, which produced an increased total metabolism and 

 increased pulse-rate. 



(3) Der Einfluss der Nahrungsaufnahme auf den Stoffwechsel. F. G. Benedict. 



Dcutsch. Archiv f. klin. Med., 110, p. 154. 1913. 



A German presentation of the above paper. 



(4) The effect of carbohydrate-free diet on the dissociation curve of blood. (Preliminary 



communication.) J. Barcroft, G. Graham, and H. L. Higgins. Proc. 

 Physiol. Soc. Jan. IS, 1913; Journ. Physiol., 15, p. xlvii. 1913. 



A few preliminary remarks on work begun in Cambridge, England, in 

 January 1911, and continued since in Cambridge and at the Nutrition 

 Laboratory in Boston. The aim of the research was to studj^ the influence 

 of the acid products resulting from a no-carbohydrate diet upon the respi- 

 ratory center and the dissociation curve of the blood. 



(5) On the formation of fat from carbohydrates. Sergius Morgulis and Joseph H. Pratt. 



Am. Journ. Physiol., 32, p. 200. 1913. 



Using the respiration apparatus for the determination of the carbon- 

 dioxide output and the oxygen consumption, and feeding dogs having 

 deficient pancreatic secretion with an excessive amount of glucose, it was 

 possible to secure a respiratory quotient somewhat above unity, indicating 

 the formation of fat from carbohydrate in the dog. 



(6) The metabolism after meat feeding of dogs in which pancreatic external secretion was 



absent. Francis G. Benedict and Joseph H. Pratt. Journ. Biol. Chem., 15, 

 p. 1. 1913. 



The well-known increase in the total metabolism of both animals and man 

 resulting from the ingestion of various kinds of food has been the subject of 

 much study, and while investigators are well in accord as to there being such 

 an increase, they differ widely in their opinion as to the cause. In general 

 it may be stated that the theory most actively championed by Zuntz and his 

 co-workers assumes that the increase in metabolism is mainly due to the 

 mechanical processes of digestion, including the work of peristalsis, segmen- 

 tation, absorption, and glandular activity. Rubner, on the other hand, 

 holds that this increase is due to the specific dynamic action of the food- 

 stuffs, ?'. e., a quota of heat production that appears as free heat and does not 

 benefit the cells. It is thus seen that in one case the increase in metabolism 

 is considered to be due chiefly to mechanical causes, while in the other it is 

 mainly attributed to chemical processes. With several dogs in which the 

 pancreatic external secretion was absent, deficient food absorption was 

 noted accompanied by voluminous stools. The passage of this large amoimt 

 of unabsorbed material through the alimentary canal led to the view that 

 such dogs would be excellent subjects for studying the influence of the 

 ingestion of food upon metabolism and to secure evidence with regard to the 

 mechanical theory of the increased heat production followng the ingestion 



