Volume 46 of the Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology series, published in 1974, reports a series of papers presented at a Symposium on Parenteral Nutrition in Infancy and Childhood held in the fall of 1972. While recognizing the controversial nature of some of the studies presented during the conference, Editors Bode and Warshaw, from Boston and New Haven, respectively, thought that the data presented were of sufficient interest to justify publication. This was an excellent decision on their part, since the text provides the reader opportunity to evaluate the controversy.
I found the section entitled "The History of Parenteral Alimentation" all too brief. There are some exciting studies on casein hydrolysates by Emmet Holt, Jr, and on intravenous lipids by George Whipple from the 1940s that are not cited. The contribution by Munro, discussing factors that influence amino acid utilization, places emphasis on the role of the gut, liver,