Experiments on the metabolism of matter and energy in the human body / By W.O. Atwater, PH.D., and F.G. Benedict, PH.D., with the cooperation of A.W. Smith, M.S., and A.P. Bryant, M.S.

  • Atwater, W. O. (Wilbur Olin), 1844-1907.
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Experiments on the metabolism of matter and energy in the human body / By W.O. Atwater, PH.D., and F.G. Benedict, PH.D., with the cooperation of A.W. Smith, M.S., and A.P. Bryant, M.S. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    We need to know more than we do at present of the ways in which llic different materials are used in the body for the building or repair of tissue, or the yielding of energy. It is desirable to learn whether in their service as fuel to supply the body with muscular power and heat their physiological value is or is not equal to their calorimetric value. To put it in another way, we need to learn not only whether the total energy of different food materials is transferred into kinetic energy in the body, but also under what circumstances and to what extent the body avails itself of that energy. To this end it is desirable to experi- ment with as large a variety of materials as possible, including com- mon forms of i)roteids, fats, sugars, and starches. The experiments here reported give data bearing upon the metabo- lism of matter and energy, the conservation of energy, and the action of the ordinary nutrients of food in the body. They thus bear upon all of the subjects just indicated. In addition to this some studies of the nutritive action of alcohol were made at the instigation of the Committee of Fifty for the Investi- gation of the Drink Problem. The committee wished more accurate and scientific information concerning the i^hysiological action of alcohol than has been hitherto possible to obtain. To this end a considerable sum has been devoted by the committee from its own treasury for the prosecution of these experiments. This sum has been supplemented by other gitts from private sources and also by appropriations from the Elizabeth Thoini)son and Bache funds. The same laboratory privileges which have been extended by Wesleyan University to the general nutrition investigations conducted at that institution under the auspi(;es of the TJ. S, Department of Agriculture and the Storrs Experiment Station have been extended to this special investigation. By a fortunate cooperation of the several agencies named a consid- erable amount of inquiry has been jmssible. Although this alcohol investigation has been conducted with funds which were not supplied by the Department, it is entirely fitting that the details of the investi- gation, so far as it is of si)e('ial interest in connection with the laws of nutrition, shouhl l)e published in connection with the other metabo- lism ex])eriments of this series. They are, accordingly, included in the Keri<*s herewith reported. Exi)eriinents Nos. 7 and 10 are so called alcohol experiments—that is to say, the daily menu in each of these experiments inchub'd a ceitain amount of alcohol which replaced an iHodynamic amount of fats, sugars, and starches. In some of the later experimentH, not rei>orted here, it has likewise rei)laced the equivalent sugar, starch, and fat, an<l in still others it has been added to the nutrients of an «)ther\vise (ln])]icate e\]»eriment. GENERAL PLAN OF THE APPARATUS AND OF THE EXPERIMENTS, The name respiration calorimeter as applied to the api)aratns nsed in these exj)erimentH is suggested by the tact that it is essentially a respiration apparatus, with a])pliances for (calorimetric measure-