The original Detachment from the Hospital Corps of the United States Army detailed to serve in this series of experiments arrived in New Haven September 28, 1903, under the command of Dr. Wallace DeWitt, 1st Lieutenant and assistant Surgeon of the United States Army. The detail was composed of twenty men, of whom fourteen were privates, volunteers for the experiment, the remainder being made up of non-commissioned officers, cook, cook’s helper, etc. The detachment was located in a convenient house on Vanderbilt Square belonging to the Sheffield Scientific School, and there they lived during their six months’ stay in New Haven under military discipline, and subject to the constant surveillance of the commanding officer and the non-commissioned officers.

In selecting the men for the experiment particular attention was paid to securing as great a variety of types as possible, representing different nationalities, temperaments, etc. Naturally, among such a group of enlisted men brought together for the purpose in view many were found unsuited for various reasons, and were quickly exchanged for others better adapted for the successful carrying out of the experiment. Several quickly deserted, apparently not relishing the restrictions under which they were compelled to live. The restriction which constituted the greatest hardship in the eyes of several of the men was the regularity of life insisted upon, and the consequent restraint placed upon their movements in the city when relieved from duty. The following Statement from Dr. DeWitt will explain the causes of removal of the men who dropped out of the experiment during the natural sifting process of the first few weeks and later.

As supplementing Dr. DeWitt’s statement it may be mentioned that Rinard reported for the experiment at New Haven on December 11, 1903, and remained here until February 2, 1904. On December 11 he weighed 59.8 kilos, while on February 2, the last day he was here, his body-weight was 60 kilos. Evidently, any restriction of diet he may have suffered had not made any great impression upon his bodily condition.

There were thirteen men of the detachment who really took part in the experiment, and of these all but four were in the original detail. Of these four, two joined in October and two early in November. Of these thirteen, all but two continued to the close of the experiment, April 4, 1904.

The following statement gives the name, age, birthplace, occupation, length of service (U. S. Army), etc. of the thirteen men.

It will be noted that the men range in age from twenty-one years six months to forty-three years, and that representatives of many countries are on the list.

Regarding the duties of the men, i. e., their daily work, the following statement from Dr. DeWitt will give all needed information on this point. The character of the Gymnasium work will be referred to later.

Here we have a group of men, thirteen in number, quite different in type from the preceding group; men accustomed to living a vigorous life under varying conditions, and who naturally had great liking for the pleasures of eating. Further, they were men who had no personal interest whatever in the experiment or in the principles involved. To be sure, they had volunteered for the work, and the objects of the experiment had been fully explained to them. Like good soldiers they no doubt desired to obey orders, and they doubtless preferred to see the experiment a success rather than a failure, but they had not that interest that would lead them to undergo any great personal discomfort. This point should be kept in mind, since it has a distinct bearing upon the possibility of establishing physiological economy of diet in persons who would not willingly incommode themselves or suffer personal inconvenience.

The experiment commenced on October 4, 1903, and for a period of six months every detail bearing upon the nutrition and condition of the men under the gradually changed conditions was carefully observed. Every precaution to preserve the health and good spirits of the men was taken. Pure distilled water was sent to the quarters each morning, magazines and other periodicals were supplied through the courtesy of friends, occasional visits to the theatre were indulged in; in fact all that could be done to counterbalance any possible depressing influence from the partial restraints of the experiment was arranged for.

Regarding the details of the work; the twenty-four hours’ urine was collected by each man, also the fæces for each day, and these were subjected to chemical analysis with a view to following out the various changes in the amount and character of the proteid metabolism going on in the body as measured by the output of total nitrogen, uric acid, and phosphoric acid in the urine, and by the amount of nitrogen in the fæces with reference to the degree of digestion and utilization of the proteid foods ingested.

During the first two weeks the ordinary army rations were given to the men; later a gradual change was made, accompanied by a reduction in the amount of proteid food, with some reduction likewise in the total fuel value of the food. All the food placed before each man was carefully weighed, and at the close of every meal any uneaten food was weighed and the amount subtracted from the initial weights. During the balance periods, when the income and output of nitrogen were carefully compared, the food materials were weighed with greater care and large samples of each article were taken for analysis, to determine the exact content of nitrogen. Every figure for nitrogen shown in the tables was verified by at least a duplicate chemical analysis so as to avoid any possibility of error.

It is not necessary to give here any detailed description of the changes made in the character of the diet, since on pages 288 to 326 may be found the daily dietary from October 2, 1903, to April 4, 1904,—each meal of the day,—showing the amount and character of the food given the men during the six months period. It should be stated, however, that at no time were the men placed on a cereal diet or on a truly vegetable diet. The object in view was simply to study the possibilities of a general physiological economy in diet, with special reference to the minimal proteid requirement of the healthy man. To be sure, in doing this meats, owing to their high content of proteid, were very much reduced in amount and on many days no meat at all was given, but as the dietary is looked through it will be seen that the main change was from a heavy meat diet (rich in proteid) to a lighter diet, comparatively poor in proteid, with an increasing predominance of vegetable and cereal foods. Condiments are also noticeable in the diet, together with the ordinary accessories, coffee and tea. Variety was also considered as a necessary factor, not to be overlooked, as contributing largely to the maintenance of a proper physiological condition.

From a study of the tables which follow, showing the chemical composition of the daily urine, it will be seen that during the first sixteen days, viz., from October 4 until October 20 or 21, when the men were on the ordinary army ration with opportunity to eat an abundance of meat, the daily urine frequently contained 16 to 17 grams of nitrogen, showing a metabolism of over 100 grams of proteid on such days. Sliney, indeed, averaged for four days an output of 18.19 grams of nitrogen, while Coffman, Henderson, and Zooman showed an average daily excretion of about 15 grams of nitrogen each for the sixteen days from October 4.

OAKMAN.

MORRIS.