390 KEPOKT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



p()l3'saccliari(l cnrholiydrates derived from lichens and marine algap, 

 including amon^ others Icehmd moss {('etraria 'islandica), Irish moss 

 (C/iondriis crisj)n,s), antl a<j:ai-a<j:ar. Tlis data indicate tliat these sub- 

 stances which liave heen considered imj)ortant lood products are 

 assimihited only to a Hmited extent. On the otiier liand, the al<^oc 

 may be a vakiable addition to tiie diet as they induce copious feces. 



A painstaking study of the digestibility of legumes has been made 

 by C. E. Wait." Healthy men were fed with mixed diets, including 

 cooked dried legumes in common use in the Southern States, and the 

 coeflicients of digestibility for the legumes alone was calculated. The 

 average results for protein ran fiom 70 to 83 per cent, and for car})0- 

 hydrates from 87 to 96 per cent. The legumes seemed also to decrease 

 slightly the digestibility of the total ration. 



The food value of fruit and nuts has ])een studied by M. E. Jaffa in 

 California, and their digestibility determined when eaten by healthy 

 persons in a mixed diet. In 25 digestion experiments both classes of 

 food appear to be thoroughly digested. In California, at least, they 

 appear to be reasonably economical constituents of the diet, even in 

 large amounts. The results of earlier experiments'* and later data 

 not yet reported in full have been summarized in popular bulletins.'^ 



Numerous studies of the digestibility and other matters concerning 

 the nutritive value of bleached flour have been studied at the Min- 

 nesota, North Dakota, and Nebraska experiment stations,*^ and else- 

 where. This work was undertaken in connection with the general 

 subject of pure food legislation, a toi)ic w^hich should receive inde- 

 pendent treatment in order to summarize it at all adequately, and so 

 further reference will not be made to it here. 



SPECIAL STUDIES OF PROTEIN AND OTHER FOOD CONSTITUENTS. 



Among investigations along the lines of protein metabolism may 

 be mentioned those of P. A. Schaffer,^ who studied the protein 

 metabolism of healthy men in connection with diminished muscular 

 activity and leports that 



with sufiicient food either an increase or a decrease of musrular activity within 

 physiological limits has per se no effect upon the protein metabolism as indicated by 

 the nitrogen and sulphur partitions in the urine. 



In studying tlie nutritive value of gelatin, J. R. Murlin^ found that 

 "the lower the general proteid condition of the body becomes the 



aU. S. Dept. Agr., Office Expt. Stas. Bui. 187. 

 6U. S. Dept. Agr., Office Expt. Stas. Buls. 107, 132. 

 cU. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Buls. 293, 332. 



d Report on Bleaching of Flour, H. Snyder, St. Anthony Park, Minn., 1906; Minne- 

 sota Sta. Bui. Ill; North Dakota Sta. Spec. Bui. 9; Nebraska Sta. Bui. 102. 

 « Amer. Jour. Physiol., 22 (1908), No. 4, p. 445. 

 / Amer. Jour. Physiol., 19 (1907), No. 3, p. 285; 20 (1907), No. 1, p. 234. 



