[From the Pathological Laboratory of the Presbyterian Hospital and the Laboratory of Biological Chemistry of Columbia University, at the College of Physicians and Surgeons.]
The whole subject of artificial nutrition presents great fascination for internists both from the theoretical and the practical point of view; for the idea of nourishing the body, meeting its physiologic needs, so to speak, without the knowledge or consent of the patient, when occasion arises, has seemed an end highly desirable at times.
The conditions under which this would be of value are, of course, various, and need not be discussed here beyond pointing out the fact that in cases of subnutrition which, in part or whole, preclude the natural method of maintaining the physical economy, some such method would often be of the greatest use. Thus, it is indicated in acute gastroenteritis in children, in marasmus, in strictures of the alimentary tract when the