NUTRITION LABORATORY. 241 



tion of the respiration chamber and to provide for the absorption of 

 the large amount of carbon dioxide present in this rapidly moving air- 

 current. This has also necessitated the construction of a different 

 type of carbon-dioxide absorber. 



METABOLISM IN RECTAL FEEDING WITH ALCOHOL AND DEXTROSE. 



During the past year the studies on metabolism after the ingestion of 

 alcohol per rectum have been continued by Dr. T. M. Carpenter. Three 

 control observations have been made and five observations with 500 c.c. 

 of 7§ per cent alcohol. The observations were continued throughout 

 the night and thus covered the period of deep sleep. The clinical 

 respiration apparatus was used for measuring carbon-dioxide ehmina- 

 tion, oxygen absorption, and the respiratory quotient. Continuous 

 graphic records of pulse and respiration rates were made throughout 

 the series. 



A few additional experiments have been made on the absorption of 

 dextrose administered by rectum. 



A brief report of the effect of alcohol ingestion by rectum upon the 

 respiratory exchange and the concentration of alcohol in the urine was 

 given by Dr. Carpenter at the 1916 meeting of the American Federa- 

 tion of Biological Societies. 



THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL GIVEN PER RECTUM. 



The work of Dr. T. M. Carpenter on metabolism in rectal feeding 

 with alcohol offered an excellent opportunity for Dr. W. R. Miles to 

 pursue a correlated research on the psychological effects, using the 

 same experimental subject before and after the metabolism sessions. 

 The desirability of investigating the psychological effects of alcohol 

 given by rectal injection during sleep is apparent, since by this method 

 of dosage, if moderate doses are used and the concentration is not too 

 great, it is entirely possible to keep the subject in complete ignorance 

 as to the content of the dose. So far as we know, these are the first 

 experiments in which this method has been employed and they are only 

 the beginning of a more extended research along the same lines. The 

 subject served a period of 1| hours in the Psychological Laboratory in 

 the evening immediately before going to Dr. Carpenter and again a 

 like period in the morning when the psychological measurements were 

 repeated. As in the intervening hours the subject was most of the time 

 asleep and always lying quietly, the experiments contribute to the 

 studj^ of recuperation with and without alcohol. 



INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL UPON THE ELECTROCARDIOGRAM. 



It was found feasible to arrange non-polarizable electrodes which 

 could be comfortably worn by a subject who slept all night in the 

 clinical respiration chamber. Such electrodes were in position during 



