New-York tribune., 1902-12-14
STUDY OF FOOD EFFECTS,
TESTS ON YOUNG MEN-EXPERIMENrs By
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN
REGARD TO REPRESENTATIVES.

Washington, Dec 13 (SpeciaI)- Seated about
q table heaped to overfiowing with good things
TO eat a dozen young men in Washington are
enjoying the hospitality Of the government But
the table etiquette is rather unusual
You may have second piece Of pie, but
tust let me take your temperature first" says
the host For everything eaten is eaten for
purpose, and these young men are simply hu-
man machines working out nice little problem
in chemistry under the watchful eye Of DR..
Wiley, chief chemist Of the Department of Agri-
culture
The first half of the experiment will be
nembered as a period Of good food we'll cooked,
for, just the Rhode Island farmer fattens his
turkeys for Thanksgiving, DR.. Wiley is pre-
pairing his subjects for poison diet by prelude
Of gastronomic bliss. BY and by he will have
diagrams OF the digestions Of his guests. He
Will have discovered. every boarding house
keeper does. the capacity Of his dodgers. how
much food they need and how it affects them
Then comes a heavy change. The twelve
boarders are divided into two groups; one takes
the pledge TO eat only what DR.. Wiley gives
them; in the cause of science they renounce
the pleasures of ''rarebits" and kindred joys.
They get their ten days rations of the finest,
then comes ten days Of preserved food In this
time the volunteer subjects have for food that
vast range Of chemically treated articles, rang
ing all the way from the canned beef Of Spanish
war fame to the timed baked beans, Just like
those mother used to bake as the label says
In the days when chemical food confronts the
guests there is a frequent taking Of tempera-
ture and feeling Of pulse The effects Of pre-
served pickles on the good nature of the sub
fects Of canned fish upon the intellect, and all
the various rauifcations Of food on the sys-
TEN, are ninutely observed Day and night,
thermometer in hand DE. Wiley stands vigilant-
" on guard
About the time when the last pun about can
IS exhausted, the diet regimen is over and the
first six go into period Of relaxation. where
milk flows straight from the cow and the honey
is squeezed from the comb. At the same time
the other six subjects who have been poking
fun at their brethren whom they have dubbed
"tne can openers" take their turn. and the hrst
batch get their revenge
Of the purposes Of the tests. DR.. Wiley gives
the following explanation:
The object Of the experiment is TO determine
the wholesoneness, or rather the unWholesone-
ness Of substances added to foods as preserFsa-
tjves coloring matter. for other purposes.
An attempt will be made TO settle definitely the
disputed points in regard to these matters ABOUT
which chemists and hygienists differ so greatly
The result can also be used to shape lntelllSent
legislation Of restrictive nature, regulating COM
rnerce in food products. securing the renoVai
Of unnecessary and unjust restrictions ana
making effective those that are necessary anu
Just. 1t VIII serve as basis for lnternaIlohA
agreement in regard to the composition OF pre-
served foods. Now the different nations nave
widely different laws protect and regulate
the importation and expectation OF food prod
ucts. They viii serve also as a basis Tor ra-
tional advice on the part of hyglenlsts ana phy-
sicians in regard to the foods that should De or
should not be used by persons IN Ordinary
health and viii be especially valuable IN the
treatment Of inValiGS. The investigation VIII
produce results which viii tend to conserve the
public health and guard the invalid and the
weak from injurious substances