196 WILBUR OLIN ATWATER. 



with him as students or co-workers and who have since become 

 directors of agricultural experiment stations, professors in agri- 

 cultural colleges, and influential in other capacities in the move- 

 ment for agricultural education and research. 



Parallel with his studies in agricultural chemistry, including 

 animal nutrition. Professor Atwater began early in his career to 

 carry on investigations in physiological chemistry with special 

 reference to problems in human nutrition. Between 1879 and 

 1883 1^^ made extensive studies of the chemical composition and 

 nutritive value of American food fishes and invertebrates for 

 the United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries and 

 carried on work along similar lines for the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion. Studies of the dietaries of people in Massachusetts and Can- 

 ada were also made for the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics 

 of Labor and published in 1886. Nutrition investigations were 

 also carried on during this period as part of the regular work 

 of the Connecticut Storrs Experiment Station. 



In 1893, Congress made an appropriation for investigations in 

 human nutrition in cooperation with the agricultural experiment 

 stations, assigning the supervision of this enterprise to the De- 

 partment of Agriculture where it was made a part of the work 

 of the Office of Experiment Stations. Headquarters for this 

 enterprise were established at Middletown, Conn., and Professor 

 Atwater was made its official chief. The work was broadly 

 planned and steadily developed until it became the most com- 

 prehensive investigation on this subject ever undertaken. The 

 cooperation of universities, colleges, and schools, experiment 

 stations, public institutions, and private organizations of various 

 kinds was secured in different parts of the country. Hundreds 

 of dietary studies of people of different occupations were made 

 and the results of similar studies throughout the world were 

 collated. Numerous digestion experiments with men were 

 carried on and special studies were made of the nutritive value 

 of different cereals, meats, vegetables, fruits, and nuts, the 

 effects of cooking and other forms of preparation on nutritive 

 value, and other important food problems. Special efforts were 

 made to improve methods and apparatus for such work. 



In 1882-3, Professor Atwater devoted considerable time at 



