Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-06-10
Investigations Begun in 1894.


1894, and has proceeded ever since. At
first the various agricultural experiment
stations were authorized by Congress to
cooperate with the Secretary of Agri-
culture in studying food and nutrition in
| man.
The work was begun in the office of the
experiment station. For a number of
years 1t involved elaborate cooperation
with agricultural experiment stations,
agricultural colleges and other institu-
tons.
At present the work is carried on in
Washington. the plan being to study
problems that are of a special interest in
connection with the work of the depart
ment.
The purpose of the nutrition investiga-
ton IS to stduy various aspects of the
problem of the value fer human food of
agricultural products, both animal and
vegetable. Numerous reports of investi-
cation have appeared as technical bull
| letins from the Department of Agricul-
| ture, and some of the more general re-
suits have been put in popular form in
some of the farmers bulletins.
Curious Looking Box.
The instrument with which this ex-
exceedingly intricate work is performed
| looks much like the icebox in saloon
| or miniature cold storage plant It
| consists of big box with double walls.
| Between these walls there are coils of
pipes in which runs distilled water, the
| temperature and specific gravity of which
| is carefully determined.
| The man who is to be experimental
| upon enters the big box and has his
meals passed in to him through double
| air-lOcked window, something like the en-
| trance to a submarine caisson. After he
eats the meal the rise of temperature
in the coil of water is carefully noted by
| an observer on the outside, being re-
corded by the most delicate electrical in
| strumentS
| Inside the box there is stationary BIZ
cycle. like the bicycle trainer to be found
| in gymnaSiums The subject if need be-
mounts this and reels off miles of fast
| pedaling without ever leaving his solitary
| cell
| The subject can read or write or go to
| sleep, according to the nature of the in
| vestigation. The calorimeter keeps on
working.
| 1t takes an infinity of work and calcu-
lation to tabulate all the results. The In
tricate methods used are scarcely of gen.
eral interest But they involve the use
of slide rules and calculating machines
and figures Of energy extended to several
places of decimals.
Nutritive Values Determined.
The ultimate result, however, is plain.
After a careful test the scientists of the
department can tell to a fraction the
| relative nutritive value of a mouthful OF
| cheese or a small pork chop.
| They know how much energy is gen
Grated by sugar, though there has been
| no record made yet of how much a So
ciety girl increases her dentists bill by
| eating glace fruit.
| But the instrument can tell a factory
girl whether she will save more of her
weekly wage by eating smoked herrings
or switching to oatmeal. 1t is possible to
say just how much potential energy is
taken from the sea each year in the form
of fish food.
| The instrument can, if desired, differ
entiate between the nutritive value of
lobster a la Newburg or ham and"
| 1t also can tell the housekeeper to a
fraction the relative value of feeding her
| family on round steak pOrterhouse,
but it cannot force her to buy the cuts
that are economically the most effective.
Much Already Written.
| There has been a whole library written
on the subjects over which the calori-
meter has shed its light, from the di-
gestibiity of breakfast foods to raising
guinea fowls for the market. There are
more investigations on foot, some of
which may expose the iniouities of the
beef trust and others the value of boiled
potatoes a staple article of diet.
| But all that has been learned so far
| along the lines that have been studied
are embodied in about one hundred
pamphlets that have been issued by the
| department. Further researches are soon
to be embodied in a further volume.
| The Secretary of Agriculture has not
yet devoted any attention to the actual
| nutrtive value of musk rats. 1t is un-
derstood that he does contemplate hav-
ing a hippopotamus shut up in the calori-
meter to determine the relative economy
of feeding him on alfalfa hay or water
| hyacinthS.