FOODS — HUMAN NUTEITION". 359 



Wages and prices of commodities ( V. 8. Senate, 61. Cong., 2. Sess., Docs., 

 1909-10, vol. 46, PP- 801, dgms. 11). — In this volijme are gathered together a 

 number of papers from different sources, which have been reprinted and issued 

 as Senate documents. Among others may be mentioned the following: In- 

 crease in cost of food and other products; retail prices of food in the United 

 States, 1900 to 1907, etc. ; labor conditions and cost of living in Great Britain, 

 etc. (E. S. R., 21, p. 464) ; prices of commodities in the Navy; prices of farm 

 products, 1900 to 1909 ; reiwrt of the Massachusetts commission on wages and 

 prices of commodities (E. S. R., 24, p. 366) ; wages and prices of commodities 

 in Canada ; and cost of living of the working classes in the principal indus- 

 trial towns of Great Britain (E. S. R., 21, p. 464), the German Empire (E. S. R.^ 

 21, p. 405). France (E. S. R., 21, p. 465), and Belgium (E. S. R., 23, p. 169). 



Municipal ordinances, rules, and regulations pertaining to public hygiene 

 {Puh. Health and Mar. Hosp. Serv. U. 8., Puh. Health Rpts., 26 (1911), No. 47, 

 pp. 1842-1849) . — A summary of legislation regarding the preparation, care, and 

 sale of foodstuffs, and similar matters, adopted in American cities and towns 

 adopted since January 1, 1910. 



Is vegetarianism capable of world-wide application? A. E. Taylor {Pop. 

 8ci. Mo., 79 {1911), No. 6, pp. 587-593) .—This careful study of the question 

 takes into account factors not usually considered in discussions of the subject. 

 While the author admits the possibility of living in health on a vegetarian 

 diet, he reaches the conclusion that " for the present ... it is certain and 

 beyond speculation that to place the human race upon the basis of ethical 

 vegetarianism would be to expose the race to the mercy of nature." 



The nature of the repair processes in protein metabolism, E. V. McCollum 

 (Amer. Jour. Physiol., 29 {1911), No. 2, pp. 215-237). — Investigations were car- 

 ried on with a view to securing data as to the relative value of proteins of dif- 

 ferent origin, pigs being used as subjects. 



Accordiug to the author's summary, the results obtained in feeding a mixture 

 of proteins occurring in individual grains, in quantity equivalent to the ani- 

 mal's lowest possible level of protein metabolism, " do not indicate as wide 

 differences irr the nutritive values of the protein of the wheat, oat, and corn 

 kernels as would be expected from the known chemical differences in these 

 proteins. 



" Experiments are described in feeding zein and gelatin, 2 proteins which 

 are ' incomplete ' chemically, in that they lack certain cleavage products known 

 to be present in animal proteins. It is shown that the animal can utilize the 

 nitrogen of zein very efficiently for repair of the losses due to endogenous or 

 tissue metabolism. The average utilization of zein nitrogen for this purpose was 

 about 80 per cent, for gelatin 50 to 60 per cent. No evidence was obtained of 

 the formation of additional body tissue from zein, even when the latter was 

 fed in great excess over the maintenance needs of the animal. 



" Experiments in feeding casein as the only protein resulted in increases of 

 the body protein of 20 to 25 per cent. These are the most successful growing 

 experiments yet reported in which but a single protein was fed. 



" The experimental data presented are shown not to harmonize with the most 

 widely accepted theories concerning the mechanism of protein metabolism. The 

 repair processes are shown to be of a different character from the processes 

 of growth. The results of the work here presented are believed to indicate that 

 the processes of cellular catabolism and repair do not involve the destruction 

 and resynthesis of an entire protein molecule." 



Studies of carbohydrate metabolism, F. Reach (Biochem. Ztschr., 33 {1911), 

 No. 5-6, pp. 436-448). — From the experimental data presented the conclusion is 

 reached that an increase in the blood sugar content follows the transition from 



