454 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



and freshman crews of Harvard University' and that of an individual 

 member of one of the crews. In the prosecution of these studies of 

 the Harvard crews the cooperation of Dr. G. W. Fitz, of the Lawrence 

 Scientific School, was obtained. These studies and those of the Yale 

 crews previously mentioned (p. 448) were carried on at the same time 

 during the latter part of the training periods at Cambridge and New 

 Haven, and later at Gales Ferry immediately before the race. They 

 were undertaken primarily to secure data regarding the food require- 

 ments of men performing severe muscular work. Few statistics of 

 the dietaries of persons thus engaged are available, and for this reason 

 the results of this investigation are of especial interest. The regular 

 course of diet and exercise pursued b}^ boat crews dn training and the 

 conditions under which the men live at such times afford favorable 

 opportunity for securing reliable data. 



At the instigation of the Harvard athletic committee, through Dr. 

 E. A. Darling, an investigation by Prof. W. O. Atwater and Dr. F. G. 

 Benedict was carried on in order to obtain information regarding the 

 food consumed and digested by the Harvard crew. This investigation 

 was made with four members of the crew while at Gales Ferry during 

 the last days of training previous to their race with Yale in June, 

 1900. The samples of food and the feces and urine were analyzed in 

 the chemical laboratory of Wesleyao University. 



The data obtained include the amounts and composition of the food 

 eaten and of the solid and liquid excreta during the same period. 

 The investigation thus includes a dietary study, a digestion experi- 

 ment, a study of the excreta, and a nitrogen metabolism experiment. 

 The results indicate that the four ate per man about as much as the 

 Harvard and Yale crews in 1898, and that their food contained about 

 50 per cent more protein and 16 per cent more energy than that of 

 men at ordinary occupation in the United States whose dietaries have 

 been studied. They also digested their food just about as completely 

 as the average man does. 



Under the direction of Professor Atwater a study was made in 

 1900-1901 of the dietaries of ten students boarding at one of the large 

 refectories at Harvard University, by Mr. Edward Mallinckrodt, jr., 

 with the cooperation of Prof. C. R. Sanger. Most of the students under 

 observation were obliged to live economically, and the amount of 

 mone} r spent for food by them was quite limited. The studies were 

 carried on during three periods of three weeks each — one in the late 

 fall, one in winter, and one in late spring. Records of the pln^sieal 

 condition of the subjects were made during each experimental period. 

 The data of the investigation, which have not yet been published, will, 

 it is expected, serve as an important contribution to the subject of food 

 consumption of persons of sedentary habits. 



The investigations with the Harvard and Yale University crews in 



