10 



MEDICAL SUPERVISION. 



It was deemed important to have competent medical supervision of 

 the members of the experimental class in order that the results of the 

 investigations might be studied also from the point of view of the phy- 

 sician. It was also thought best that this supervision should come fol 

 this purpose from an official source. To this end the Secret my of Agri- 

 culture addressed the following communication to the Secretary of the 

 Treasury : 



I have the honor to ask that you request the Surgeon-General of the Public! 

 Health and Marine Hospital Service to detail a physician from his staff to make 

 physical and medical examinations of the young men employed in this Depart- 

 ment in testing the effect of preservatives upon the health of the consumer. 



There -will not be any very great drain upon the time of this expert, since the I 

 examinations are to be made only about once in ten days, on six young men,*, 

 and will not consume, probably, over two hours, making a total of not to exceed J 

 six hours' service per month. 



In this connection I beg to suggest that the Surgeon-General arrange with i 

 Dr. H. W. Wiley, the Chief of the Bureau of Chemistry, for the details of these 

 examinations. 



. The following reply was received to the above communication : 



I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of January 

 28, 1903, requesting that the. Surgeon-General of the Public Health and Marine] 

 Hospital Service be asked to detail a physician from his staff to make physical 

 and medical examinations of the young men employed in your department in, 

 testing the effect of preservatives upon the health of the consumer. 



In reply I have to inform you that your communication has been forwarded 

 to the Surgeon-General of the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service, wh<l 

 informs me that he will detail Assistant Surgeon-General H. D. Geddings to make 

 the desired examinations. 



The Surgeon-General further informs me that he has communicated with Prof.| 

 H. W. Wiley, the Chief of the Bureau of Chemistry of your Department, and 

 that Doctor Geddings has been instructed to arrange details with Professor Wiley 

 in the matter. 



In harmony with the above arrangement, Dr. Geddings regularly vim 

 ited the young men under experiment once a week, giving them a 

 careful physical examination, inquiring in regard to sj^mptoms of any. 

 disturbances in their physical state, and prescribing for them when they 

 fell ill, either incidentally to their work or independently thereof. Un-j 

 fortunately, in several cases, the members of the training table suffered 

 severely from colds, influenza, and grippe to such an extent as often to I 

 lose the value of their services during a whole period. These cases oil 

 illness, not due to the action of the preservatives, are duly noted in the 

 proper places in the details of the experimental work. 



EXAMINATION OF THE BLOOD. 



Any changes which might take place in the relative number of cor-i 

 puscles in the blood, or in the blood coloring matter, are of value in 

 determining the general effect of the added preservatives upon health 



