Nipple Confusion

To the Editor.— Cronenwett et al1 have jumped to a completely unwarranted conclusion from the data they present in their article on bottle use, that "no support was found for the nipple confusion hypotheses" Rather, there is no support to make such a statement. There seems to be confusion in the minds of the authors by what is meant by "nipple confusion" or "nipple preference." In the first place, those of us who handle breast-feeding problems on a daily basis would not argue that the occasional bottle, introduced once breast-feeding was well underway and both mother and baby were doing well, would cause serious problems in most instances.

Polity and Rights Values in Conflict: The Burger Court, Ideological Interests, and the Separation of Church and State

I seek to counter a view commonly held by scholars that the Burger Court is pragmatic in its constitutional choices in contrast to the Warren Court, which is viewed as ideological. I propose a methodology to study the effects of process values and rights values held by members of the Burger Court on their decision making. To view its decision making as pragmatic, without awareness of underlying values of process and rights, results in an oversimplified view and leads to the unwarranted conclusion that the Burger Court is case-specific in making constitutional choices. I limit my discussion to separation of church and state cases, primarily in the area of aid to parochial education, because traditionally scholars have emphasized the pragmatic nature of Burger Court choices in this area. A finding of consistency of values in justices' orientations in this area suggests that the methodology reported here might have general utility in the study of Supreme Court decision making.

Renin Levels in Normokalemic Hyperaldosteronism

The recent report by Grim and Weinberger1 of three cases of normokalemic hyperaldosteronism makes some interesting points but made (I feel) an unwarranted conclusion about the routine measurement of renin levels. In addition, the report did not include some important information. The report states that "Renin levels should be determined in all hypertensive children and their hypertensive parents." This conclusion is debatable at best and certainly not justified by the presentation of this case. Also, with respect to this case, it is important to know what the authors meant by "rarely" when they state that, "It should be emphasized that we rarely found serum potassium levels less than 3.6 mEq/liter in either the father or the two children."

AN UNEXPECTED FACTOR AFFECTING THE ALCOHOL INTAKE OF RATS

Measurements have been made of the amount of dilute alcohol (15% v/v) consumed by adult male rats fed an adequate diet. When both water and alcohol were made available, most rats usually chose water. The relative proportions of the two liquids consumed appeared to be influenced by the positions of the food, water, and alcohol dispensers. Had these observations been less complete, the unwarranted conclusion might have been drawn that some of the rats (possibly for genetic reasons) displayed a marked preference for alcohol.

AN UNEXPECTED FACTOR AFFECTING THE ALCOHOL INTAKE OF RATS

Measurements have been made of the amount of dilute alcohol (15% v/v) consumed by adult male rats fed an adequate diet. When both water and alcohol were made available, most rats usually chose water. The relative proportions of the two liquids consumed appeared to be influenced by the positions of the food, water, and alcohol dispensers. Had these observations been less complete, the unwarranted conclusion might have been drawn that some of the rats (possibly for genetic reasons) displayed a marked preference for alcohol.