NUTRITION LABORATORY. 301 



concentration. It is important to know whether or not alcohol can 

 be so diluted that, even though it is taken in relatively large quantities, 

 it produces little or no directly measurable effect. 



Data are also being accumulated to throw light upon the question 

 of how long after the ingestion of alcohol measurable psj^chological 

 effects may be observed. The study of the influence of alcohol on sense 

 thresholds, referred to in the 1914 report, has been somewhat delayed 

 because of the long time necessary for the building of an elaborate 

 visual sensitivity test object by the Nela Park Laboratory. It has also 

 been found desirable for our particular problem to devise better methods 

 and apparatus for studying changes in the sensitivity to electric shock. 



Influence of moderate doses of alcohol on metabolisin. — Mr. H. L. 

 Higgins, in connection with a study of the respiratory exchange and 

 particularly of the respiratory quoitient during alcohol ingestion, has 

 made studies of the rapidity of the absorption of alcohol by normal 

 individuals under varying conditions. The research has been com- 

 pleted from the experimental standpoint and the results are now being- 

 prepared for publication. 



Use of alcohol in rectal feeding. — As a part of the extended research 

 on the physiological action of ethyl alcohol in man which is being 

 carried out in this Laboratory, Dr. T. M. Carpenter has begun a study 

 of the influence upon the metabolism of the rectal feeding of alcohol 

 with special reference to the time relation and the intensity of the metab- 

 olism. It is planned to extend this study to include the combination 

 of alcohol with protein, fat, and carbohydrates. 



Normal metabolism of men and women. — No definite series of observa- 

 tions on this subject has been made during the past year, except that 

 in all other researches data for normal subjects have been obtained 

 whenever possible, thus adding materially to our knowledge regarding 

 normal metabolism. It is probable that hereafter this study of normal 

 individuals will be continued only by using fragmentary data inciden- 

 tally obtained in other studies. 



Respiration in oxygen-rich atmospheres. — The adaptation of the 

 universal respiration apparatus to the study of the metabolism of small 

 animals has proved so successful that many experiments of 2 to 8 days 

 have been made with rabbits by Miss M. A. Corson. The effect of 

 variations in the percentage of oxygen was especially studied by Dr. 

 H. T. Karsner. The observations on the respiration with a high 

 percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere have been practically com- 

 pleted and the results are now in press. It is the purpose to continue 

 this investigation further in connection with Dr. J. E. Ash, of the 

 Harvard Medical School, altering the percentage of oxygen somewhat 

 and studying the pathological changes caused thereby. While the 

 greater part of the investigation will be made with rabbits, it is 

 planned to use other animals also, particularly domestic fowl. 



Influence of temperature environment upon the metabolism. — Certain 

 preliminary observations regarding the influence of temperature en- 



