NUTRITION LABORATORY. 281 



Dr. Miles to improve the technique. Work has been done along the 

 following lines: A comparison of the wave forms and current strength 

 of the different inductoria; the construction and caUbration of a pendu- 

 lum contact-breaker which can be used in the circuit of the induction 

 coil to produce constant breaks or in work with direct-current stim- 

 ulation; the employment of different forms of the Wheatstone bridge 

 for measuring the tissue resistance. In the last-mentioned study both 

 the telephone and the string galvanometer were used as detectors and 

 determinations were obtained for resistance and capacity. The results 

 secured were compared with the values found when the resistance was 

 measured by the substitution method with the string galvanometer. 



VISUAL ACUITY MEASUREMENT. 



The Ives-Cobb visual acuity object has been used by Dr. Miles with 

 a hmited group of subjects for a thorough test of the relation between 

 visual acuity and the diameter of the artificial pupil and of the luminous 

 intensity of the field. 



METABOLISM IN DIABETES MELLITUS. 



The obscure respiratory problems presented by the peculiar condition 

 of diabetic subjects subsequent to the new Allen fasting treatment 

 called for an extended series of observations in the New England 

 Deaconess Hospital under the general direction of Dr. Joslin. The 

 observations were carried out by Miss M. A. Corson, of the Laboratory 

 staff. The providing of a separate building for diabetics by the hospital 

 has proved of great value, a visit to the building showing better than 

 words the wdde difference between these patients with severe diabetes 

 and the ordinary conception of hospital patients. As Dr. Joslin has 

 aptly pointed out, the diabetes patients are not in a hospital, but at 

 school, learning how to prolong their own lives. 



METABOLISM OF NORMAL INFANTS. 



As the result of an excellent system of controls estabUshed by 

 Dr. Talbot, we have been able to study a number of infants during the 

 period of growth from birth to a year or more of age and to obtain an 

 interesting series of charts showing the metabolism during the first two 

 years of Ufe. The apparatus installed in the Wet Nurse Directory has 

 been used for daily observations on perfectly normal infants. In the 

 spring of 1916 a series of observations was carried out in which an 

 attempt was made to approximate the daily life of the infant in the 

 crib and to determine the daily rhythm of metaboUsm, including the 

 digestive cycles and the influence of deep sleep upon the metabolism. 

 The periods were 24 hours long, the infant being removed from the 

 respiration chamber but a few moments at a time throughout the entire 

 day. These tedious and exacting observations have been in charge of 

 Miss AUce Johnson. 



