FOODS — HUMAN NUTRITION. 155 



found in the kidney. Betain, anottier derivative of trimethylamin, replaced 

 carnitin. 



The nutritive effects of beef extract, W. H. Thompson, W. Caldwell, and 

 T. A. Wallace (Brit. Med. Jour., 1911, No. 26^6, pp. 613-619).— The conclu- 

 sions which were drawn from the experimental study of meat extracts follow: 



"The addition to the diet of the beef extracts used (commercial and self- 

 made) led to an increase of body weight both in the case of animals and of 

 man. Accompanying this increase there was a retention of a considerable pro- 

 portion of the nitrogen given in the extracts. The extracts also caused a 

 reduction in the output of nitrogen by the feces, this no doubt being due to a 

 better digestion and absorption of food of the ordinary diet. The extracts may 

 therefore be accredited with both a direct and au indirect nutritive value. 



" During the feeding with the extracts there was also a retention of water 

 in the body." 



For earlier work see a previous note (E. S. R., 24, p. 168). 



Fisheries of the United States, 1908 {Bur. of the Census [U. S.], Spec. 

 Rpts., Fisheries of the U. S. 1908, p. 324) • — A large amount of statistical data 

 is summarized and discussed regarding the fishing industry of the United 

 States, including Alaska. Among the subjects discussed are the products of the 

 principal fisheries, canning and preserving, and exports and imports. 



Is baked bread sterile? B. von Fenyvessy and L. Dienes {Ztschr. Hyg. u. 

 InfectionskranJc., 69 (1911), No. 1, pp. 223, 22-i). — From their experiments the 

 authors conclude that the interior of bread reaches a temperature of 91 to 

 104° C. during baking, so that nonspore-forming pathogenic bacteria, if acci- 

 dently present in dough, would certainly be killed. Dough may contain spores, 

 however, which are not thus destroyed, and it follows that bread is not of 

 necessity sterile and it may happen that spores of pathogenic bacteria acci- 

 dentally present in flour remain viable. Nevertheless, infection from such a 

 cause is not known. 



Studies in nutrition. — I, The utilization of the proteins of wheat, L. B. 

 Mendel and M. S. Fine (Jour. Biol. Chem., 10 (1911), No. 4, PP- 303-325).— 

 As an introduction to a series of studies of the nutritive value of vegetable 

 proteins, the authors discuss the factors which must be taken into considera- 

 tion and point out that two distinct questions should be considered, namely, 

 " the availability of the products existing more or less in their native condi- 

 tion, with accompanying structural elements, as in bread, [and] the specific 

 utilization of the proteins themselves. The latter aspect is the one which 

 primarily calls for further investigation." 



In the experiments reported the attempt was made to control extraneous 

 factors in so far as possible by improving the texture and mechanical condi- 

 tion of the crude products, or by purifying the individual products. The ex- 

 perimental trials with man and dogs indicate that wheat " glidin," gluten, 

 and thp two characteristic proteins of wheat, namely, gliadin and gluteuiu, are 

 as thoroughly utilized as the nitrogenous components of fresh meat. 



Studies in nutrition. — II, The utilization of the proteins of barley, L. B. 

 Mendel and M. S. Fine (Jour. Biol. Chem., 10 (1911), No. 4, pp. 339-3J,3).— 

 From experiments reported in continuation of the above it appeared that 

 " under favorable conditions, barley protein, like that of the closely related 

 cereal wheat, would be almost perfectly digested." 



[Rice in relation to beriberi, in] epidemic dropsy in Calcutta, E. D. W. 

 Gretg (Sci. Mem. Med. and Sanit. Depts. India, n. ser., 1911, No. //.5, pp. 

 3+IT-+-47, pi. 1, charts 6, map 1). — The investigations reported have to do 

 with the cause and prevention of epidemic dropsy or beriberi and include studies 

 carried on during an epidemic of the disease in Calcutta. 



22214°— No. 2—12 5 



