96 Nutrition and Other Subjects of Allied Interest 



No. 84. OSBORNE, THOMAS B. The Proteins of the Wheat Kernel. Octavo, 119 



pages. Published 1907. Price $0.75. 



This paper contains the results of the author's studies of the protein constituents 

 of the wheat kernel. The properties and proportions of the different types of pro- 

 tein which can be isolated from the seed are given, and the relations o: these to the 

 proteins earlier described by others are discussed. The results of the recent analyses 

 of the products of hydrolysis of these proteins are given in detail, and some ques- 

 tions regarding their nutritive value, which are raised by these analyses, are dis- 

 cussed. The character and proportion of the proteins of the embryo are compared 

 with those of the endosperm. This paper aims to give as complete an account as 

 possible of what is now known of the proteins of wheat. 



No. 156. OSBORNE, THOMAS B., and LAFAYETTE B. MENDEL. Feeding Experiments 

 with Isolated Food Substances. Octavo, 53 pages, text figures i-xxi. 

 Published 1911. Price $0.50. 

 Part II. Octavo, pp. m+55-138, figs.xxn-cxxix. Published 1911. Price $1. 



This series of publications gives the results of an investigation originally in- 

 tended to secure data as to the relative nutritive value of the protein constituents 

 of the more important food substances. Since many of the proteins differ widely 

 from one another in their chemical constitution, an attempt is made to determine 

 definitely to what extent these differences affect their value in nutrition. The con- 

 ditions under which animals can be fed with mixtures of isolated food substances 

 are described. Only the purest preparations of the proteins which could be made 

 were fed in combination with carbohydrates, fats, and inorganic salts. 



In Part I is given an extensive review of the literature relating to feeding animals 

 with artificial mixtures of isolated food substances. The methods employed by the 

 authors are described, and an account of their experience in feeding such mixtures 

 is given. The results recorded relate chiefly to determining the conditions necessary 

 for properly studying the role of the different proteins and nutrition. 



Part II presents an account of feeding experiments with food mixtures contain- 

 ing different proteins, all of which, with the exception of zein from maize, served 

 equally well to maintain mature animals. These data have an important bearing on 

 the relation of amino-acids to nutrition and the extent of the synthetic processes 

 which occur in assimilation. It is shown that while all these food mixtures, except 

 those containing zein, maintain rats during periods of 150 to more than 200 days, 

 they ultimately fail to meet the nutritive requirements of the animals unless a 

 change is made in the diet. 



In the course of the experiments it was found that a food containing a sufficient 

 quantity of milk powder met all the nutritive requirements of the rats during very 

 long periods, which led the authors to prepare a fat-free and protein-free powder 

 from milk, which should serve as a basal ration. The addition of this substance to 

 the food at once restored rats declining on purely artificial food and also induced 

 normal growth in the young, irrespective of the protein of the food, with the excep- 

 tion of the alcoholic-soluble proteins of the cereals. The methods of feeding de- 

 scribed furnish new means for studying many questions, not only concerning pro- 

 teins in metabolism, but all the other components of food. 



