116 STORRS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 
in this direction. The authorities of the Station believe that 
the inquiry is of great importance. They wish to have the 
results made as immediately and widely useful as possible. 
The constituency of the Station includes a large number of 
intelligent and thoughtful people. The Station invites their 
especial attention to the following statements, and solicits 
correspondence about this as well as other subjects of its 
investigations. 
HISTORY OF THE INVESTIGATIONS. 
In the. report of this Station for 1801, pp. 41=17iggweee 
briefly set forth some of the results of investigations of the 
chemistry and economy of foods which had been made by 
the writers and others associated with them, mostly in the 
chemical laboratory of Wesleyan University, at different times 
during a period of then more than twelve and now more than 
sixteen years. 
CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF FISH AND MEATS. 
The inquiry had its inception in studies of the chemistry 
of fish. For these, assistance was provided through Prof. 
S. F. Baird, in accordance with a usage frequently followed 
by him as head of the Smithsonian Institution, the United 
States National Museum, and the United States Fish Com- 
mission. ‘Through his agency, small sums were appropriated 
from time to time, between the years 1877 and 1882, toward 
defraying the expenses for apparatus and labor of assistants. - 
To the help thus given more was added by private persons, 
and analyses were made of some two hundred specimens of 
the flesh of sixty-four species of American marine and fresh- 
water fishes and invertebrates (oysters, etc.,) commonly used 
for food. 
One of us (W. O. A.) was called upon in 1884 to prepare 
plans for specimens, labels and other illustrative materials 
for the Food Collection of the United States National Mu- 
seum. For this purpose it. was desirable, indeed logically 
necessary, to illustrate the fundamental principles of food 
economy. ‘To this end, information regarding the chemical 
composition of our common food materials was indispensa- 
ble. An adequate series of investigations of American food 

