302 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



vironment on heat regulation were made in this laboratory a few years 

 ago by Dr. S. MorguUs, and during the past year Dr. Reginald Fitz 

 has contributed somewhat to our earlier fragmentary data. The 

 research is by no means complete, and our chief interest is in outlining 

 further plans of work which shall include a study of the temperature 

 environment not only upon the metaboHsm of the lower animals but 

 upon that of man. 



Basal metabolism after thyroid stimulation. — Except in fevers and in 

 exophthalmic goiter, the known instances in which metabolism is 

 increased in pathological cases are relatively few. The interesting obser- 

 vations of Professor W. B. Cannon, of the Harvard Medical School, 

 have resulted in an important operative procedure for stimulating the 

 thyroid, and Dr. Reginald Fitz has been occupied during the past year 

 in a series of investigations upon the influence of thyroid stimulation 

 upon metabolism. The data secured are being prepared for publication. 



Respiration apparatus for large animals or groups of individuals. — 

 With the exception of the large Sonden-Tigerstedt respiration chambers 

 in Stockholm and Helsingfors, in most respiration apparatus only one 

 individual can be studied. An important factor in studying the metab- 

 oHsm of a number of individuals is to secure a proper aliquoting of the 

 ventilating current of air for subsequent analysis. A new device has 

 been perfected for this purpose and the apparatus is now being tested 

 for its practical apphcation in studying the metabolism of large animals 

 and of gi'oups of individuals. The research is still in progress. 



The comparative nutrition of the lower animals. — For a more complete 

 understanding of the physiological laws which govern the heat-elimina- 

 tion and heat-production of the body, it is necessary to make experi- 

 ments with animals in which these factors may be studied. This 

 Laboratory has already undertaken investigations on certain of the 

 lower animals, including cats, rabbits, guinea-pigs, and particularly 

 geese, but it was soon seen that the variations in the skin covering, such 

 as hair, hide, feathers, etc., as well as variations in the shape and com- 

 position of the body, particularly as to the proportion of active proto- 

 plasmic tissue and inert body-fat, make it desirable to carry out studies 

 upon other than domestic animals. After several conferences, Dr. W. 

 T. Hornaday, director of the New York Zoological Park, has most 

 kindly arranged for an extended study of the basal or resting metab- 

 ohsm of various wild animals. Not only will such a study throw 

 light upon abstract questions, such as heat regulation, but it will have 

 a not inconsiderable bearing upon the feeding of animals in captivitj^, 

 which at the present time is based entirely upon empirical standards. 

 A special apparatus has been constructed for this research and is in- 

 stalled in a building of the New York Zoological Society. 



Translation of foreign literature. — The translation of scientific papers, 

 published in a foreign language and comparatively inaccessible to the 

 research worker, has been continued at the Nutrition Laboratory. 



