NUTRITION INVESTIGATIONS. 441 



that an unnecessary duplication of effort may be avoided. Further- 

 more, summaries of previous investigations are of great value in sug- 

 gesting lines of research and in awakening the interest of investigators 

 b}^ showing past achievements. 



The current literature of the nutrition of man, which is now quite 

 voluminous, is being regularly followed up, and such abstracts and 

 compilations are being made as will promote the interests of the 

 investigations. 



The rapid accumulation of material which must be made ready for 

 publication in both technical and popular form necessitates a large 

 amount of editorial work. The correspondence connected with these 

 investigations has grown to very considerable dimensions. 



ORGANIZATION OF THE WORK. 



The nutrition investigations of the Department of Agriculture are 

 conducted through the Office of Experiment Stations, the general supe- 

 vision of these investigations having been assigned by the Secretary 

 of Agriculture to the Director of that Office. The immediate super- 

 vision of this enterprise has been intrusted to Prof. W. O. Atwater, 

 as special agent in charge of nutrition investigations. Professor 

 Atwater's headquarters are at Middletown, Conn. The administra- 

 tive and editorial work connected with these investigations is con- 

 ducted at Washington and Middletown. The investigations themselves 

 are conducted in different places, the general policy being to make 

 particular institutions centers of investigation in special lines. The 

 cooperating institutions have in most cases contributed material assist- 

 ance, especially as regards laboratory rooms and appliances and the 

 services of skilled investigators. This method of cooperation has 

 some very decided advantages, particularly in the fact that many dif- 

 ferent institutions, representing the varied interests of people in widely 

 separate regions, are united in the study of prevalent conditions and 

 in efforts toward improvement. Besides this, the funds provided by 

 the Department are used economically and are supplemented by the 

 resources of the institutions and often by means from other sources. 

 While a large amount of work is being done, the interest is widely 

 extended and the results are given a greater practical usefulness. 



WORK OF THE WASHINGTON OFFICE. 



Besides the general supervision of the plans and expenditures, the 

 work of the Washington Office in relation to the nutrition investiga- 

 tions has included the preparation of popular bulletins; the compila- 

 tion of technical summaries of investigations; editorial work in 

 perfecting the details of reports of investigations; collection of biblio- 

 graphical data; the abstracting of the literature of nutrition, partly 

 for publication in the Experiment Station Record; the conducting of 



