280 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON. 



carbon dioxide expired, the total oxygen absorbed, and the respiratory 

 quotients were calculated. Shnultaneously with the above measure- 

 ments, continuous graphic records were obtained of the respiration-rate, 

 pulse-rate, and external muscular activity. Control experiments of 

 like character were made in which a 0.6 per cent sodium chloride 

 solution was injected. 



To throw additional light upon the absorption of alcohol per rectum, 

 special experiments were also made in which the urine was collected in 

 short periods and the alcohol concentration determined by the Nicloux 

 method. For comparative purposes a few metabolism experiments of 

 both kinds, i. c, respiration expermients and those including the 

 collection of urine, were conducted, in which the alcohol was ad- 

 ministered through the mouth. A number of metabolism studies of 

 rectal feeding were made by injecting 5 and 10 per cent solutions of 

 dextrose and levulose in amounts up to 50 grams of these sugars ; in two 

 experiments alcohol and dextrose were combined. Incidentally, ob- 

 servations were carried out on the difference between the gaseous 

 exchange with the subject awake and with the subject asleep. 



The results obtained present many interesting facts and problems 

 regarding both the physiological effect of alcohol and of rectal feeding 

 in general. The investigation will be continued along both lines. 



INFLUENCE OF MODERATE AMOUNTS OF ALCOHOL ON PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESSES. 



The observations previously made by Dr. W. R. Miles on the 

 influence of alcohol on typewriting — a convenient and extensively 

 used fonn of complex activity — produced a formidable mass of records 

 which have been in process of elaboration during the year. These 

 experiments were made with five trained typists who worked 5 hours 

 per day for 6 to 10 days each. The other measurements with the 

 typewriting, which might correspond to rest periods, bear mostly on 

 the time relations of certain neuro-muscular processes. The type- 

 writing provides a record not only of the speed of operation but also of 

 the accuracy of the complex reactions involved. As the individual 

 variations characteristic of the effects of alcohol are prominently 

 shown, further experiments may have to be made before the results are 

 reported. 



SENSORY THRESHOLD FOR ELECTRICAL STIMULATION. 



Certain practical difficulties have been found in the Martin method of 

 measuring the sensory threshold for electrical stimulation, prominent 

 among these being the care necessary for the accurate determination 

 of the tissue resistance for the receptors involved. As this sensory 

 threshold has been useful in studying the changes in the condition of the 

 nervous system incident to the ingestion of moderate amounts of 

 alcohol, and promises further usefulness, an effort has been made by 



