INVESTIGATIONS IN HUMAN NUTRITION. 385 



Those who are interested at all in the meat inspection in general 

 and the discussion of what may ho classed as diseased meat from the 

 standpoint of hygiene and dietetics will find a large amount of valuable 

 data in recent papere by Theobald Smith." 



Much interest has been aroused by the publication of MetchnikolT's 

 data on special lactic acid-forming ferments as an intestinal disin- 

 fectant, and on the relation of intestinal fermentation and the general 

 subject of health. Mention may be made in this connection of the 

 published summary by Metchnikolf which has appeared in the Century 

 Magazine for November, 1909. The question is being studied by many 

 investigatore, and it is worth}'' of note that the results obtained are 

 not uniformly in accord with }»IetchnikotT's conclusions. From the 

 interest which the subject has aroused, it seems probable that before 

 many years have passed so much experimental evidence will be 

 available that the whole subject will be thoroughly understood. 



Of recent American studies which have to do with intestinal putre- 

 faction may be mentioned Ph^rtcr's paper on The Therapeutic Action 

 of Fermented Milk,'' The Fecal Bacteria of Healthy Men, by MacNeal, 

 Latzer, and Kerr, which formed a part of extensive studies of meat 

 carried on at the University of Illinois,'^ and Some Observations on 

 the Study of the Intestinal Bacteria, by Kendall.'' 



DIETARY STUDIES. 



During the period included in this summarj^ a considerable number 

 of dietary studies have been carried on by the Office of Experiment 

 Stations,^ of which the bulk have been published, though a number 

 made in schools still await publication. In a bulletin reporting the 

 results of dietary studies in rural regions, J. L. Hills, Charles E. Wait, 

 and II. C. White ^ reported, respectively, 4 studies with farmers' 

 families in \'ermont, 64 in the mountains of Tennessee, and 14 in 

 Georgia, together with a few others made for purposes of comparison. 

 As a whole, the bulletin supplies a large amount of statistical and 

 other data regarding living conditions in rural regions, particularly 

 those remote from largo centers of population, where conditions are 

 very diHerent from those prevailing in towns, cities, and farms 

 which are otherwise situated. A bulletin has also been published 

 reporting investigations in public institutions by Miss Emma Smed- 



« Amer. Jcnir. Pub. Hygiene, 19 (1909), No. 2, p. 397. Mo. Bui. Mass. State Bd. 

 Health, n. ser., 4 (1909), No. 10, p. 220. 

 b Pop. Sci. Mo., 74 (1909), No. 1, p. 31. 

 c Jour. Infect. Diseases, 6 (1909), No. 2, p. 123. 

 d Jour. Biol. Chem., 6 (1909), No. 6, p. 499. 



« U. S. Dept. Agr., Office Expt. Stas. Rpt. of Director, 190G, p. 37; 1908, p. 28. 

 / U. S. Dept. Agr., Office Expt. Stas. Bui. 221. 



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