Evening star., 1942-02-24
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory. Field
And Study
Bv Thomas r. Henry.

oV 4WOUtuo ~. ASWU.
Thirty-three prisoners at the District
Reformatory at Lorton, Va, serving vol
UNFAIRLY as human guinea pigs, have
convinced physicians of the United
States Food and Drug Administration
that gelatin does not increase human
endurance or capacity for work.
This theory. promulgated about three
years ago, has persisted in the popular
mind despite accumulating evidence to
the contrary.
Because Of conflicting claims from
medical men, Drs. Ernest @. King. Law
renee B. McCaleb and Hunter F. Ken
nedy OF the Food and Drug Admins
trstion stan, and DR.. Theodore G..
Klumpp of New York City decided to
settle 1t once for all with subjects whose
ways of life could be controlled rigidly
during the experiments.
The subjects, IA white and 10 colored
prisoners. volunteered for the expert
ments. AL were members of prison foot
ball teams. Each ate precisely the same
diet, slept in precisely the same quarters.
and went to bed at precisely the same
time every night. Under the eyes Of
guards there was no chance to cheat"
on the doctors. AL were In the pink Of
physical condition.
They were tested on bicycle ergometers
that Is, they pedaled q stationary BIZ
cycle where all the effort was trans
formed into measurable electric energy.
The exact watt output per second for
each individual and the time he was
measured.
The object Of the experiment was ex-
planned to them. At the end Of the 13-
day training period-during which their
basic work rates were established-they
were given pills four times q day. All
supposed that they were getting pills
containing gelatin-or rather, amino
acetic acid, which Is alleged to be the
ingredient of gelatin which will increase
human endurance. It has been cited as
one of the pep drugs which Hitler gives
his soldiers.
Actually, half the men were getting
the aminoacetic pills and half plain
sugar pills. They were tested on the
ergometer every day for three weeks
The gain in the work capacity Of the
prisoners was astounding. For one
group of white men the increase reached
maximum Of 235 per cent. All were
able to do about three times as much
work, as measured by the electric cur
rent they generated, as before.
But there was hardly any difference in
the gains of those who got the sugar
pills and those who got the aminoacetic
acid. Both white and colored men, in
fact. who got only sugar, showed up
slightly better than their fellows. The
amount Of sugar. however. was insufn-
cient to make any physiological differ
ence.
Then those who had been getting the
acid were switched to sugar and vice
versa. The results continued approx
mately the same. The Implication is that
the effects were purely psychological.
The prisoners were merely popped up by
the suggestion that they were getting
pep puiS.
Actually, the physicians pointed out,
aminoacetic acid is constituent of the
muscles and other protein tissue Of the
body and probably is essential, but the
ordinary normal diet contains an ade-
quate supply Of it. Experiments with
animals have shown that it can be dis
pensed with altogether.
Milk. they say, is very low in the acid.
yet q baby grows and thrives on q pure
milk diet.
Yet, they report to the American Med
ical Association, If the gelatin pills alone
had been given, an experimenter might
have concluded that they were magic
medicine for increasing human energy
and endurance. The experiments justify
the action Of the Food and Drug Ad-
ministration In frowning on advertising
to this effect, DR.. King and his aSso-
ciates believe.