238 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE.—1914. 
are so great that the effects of feeding, drugs, &c., cannot be sum- 
marised in a definite manner.® 
The pharmacodynamics of different extracts have also been studied. 
Among other facts to which attention will be called in subsequent 
publications it may be mentioned that large doses of adrenin by no 
means always interfere with the normal action of the vagus, that the 
rise of blood-pressure due to injection of adrenin is of a double nature, 
and that comparatively small doses of the last-mentioned drug 
frequently cause an unexpected fatal result in dogs. 
The effects of adrenin and thyroid extracts upon the activity of the 
vagus have led to an inquiry as to the effect of hormones upon 
vaso-motor reflexes, and owing to the unsatisfactory accounts given 
in the majority of books as to the actual facts in connection with these 
reflexes, it has been necessary to extend the inquiry so as to include 
a consideration of the vaso-motor reflexes in general. So far, the only 
hormone which appears to give any interesting results is the extract of 
pituitary, the effect of injection of the extract being to change the nature 
of the reflex, so that in cases where, for example, stimulation of the 
central end of the sciatic produces a fall of blood-pressure, after 
injection of pituitary extract a similar stimulation produces a rise. 
This work is nearly ready for publication. 
The Committee desire to be reappointed with a grant of 401. 
Calorimetric Observations on Man.—Report of the Committee, 
consisting of Professor J. S. Macponaup (Chairman), Dr. 
F. A. DuFrietp (Secretary), and Dr. KrtrH Lucas, appointed 
to make Calorimetric Observations on Man in Health and in 
Febrile Conditions. (Drawn up by the Secretary.) 
In furnishing a report upon the calorimetric work undertaken during 
the past year, it is necessary to refer to a paper published by Professor 
Macdonald and printed in the ‘ Proceedings of the Royal Society,’ 
B, vol. 87, 1913, and to a communication to the Physiological Society, 
May 1914. The commencement of the first paper, containing a de- 
scription of the apparatus and of the method of procedure followed 
in these experiments, may be omitted here, since these have been in- 
cluded in previous reports of this Committee. The latter part, which 
1s the collected and digested results of a very large number of experi- 
ments made upon a variety of individuals, forms a large part of this 
report. 
The experiments all through have been carried out by Professor 
Macdonald with the apparatus and in the manner already described 
by himself in the earlier reports. The subject, shut up within the 
calorimeter, was made to perform a definite measured amount of 
mechanical work upon the cycle. The degree of work was varied in 
different experiments, and from the data of these heat-production 
* See discussion, Zancet, 1914 (March and April), by Bell, McGarrison, 
Chalmers, Watson, and Vincent. 
