FOODS HUMAN NUTRITION. 565 



"The unfavorable results with the soy bean and white bean preparations can 

 be explained only in part by the presence of cellulose and hemi-cellulose in 

 these products. Such considerations can not be applied to the data for phaseolin 

 and pea globulin. . . . The observations regarding the soy bean are of special 

 interest in view of the fact that this product has lately been introduced quite 

 widely as an adjuvant to the dietary of diabetics." 



Attention is called to the desirability of further work on the isolated legume 

 proteins, and on the influence of indigestible nounitrogenous materials upon 

 the utilization of meat. 



Differences in the tryptic and peptic cleavage of casein, paracasein, 

 and calcium paracasein of cow's milk and g'oat's milk, J. Hosl ( tjher Unter- 

 schiede in der tii/ptischeti und prptischen. Spaltiing rfe.s Caseins, Paracaseins 

 und des Paracascinkalkes aus Kiik- und Ziegcnimlch. Inaug. Diss., Univ. 

 Bern, 1910, pp. 31). — According to the author's artificial digestion experiments, 

 paracasein from both cow's milk and goat's milk was more easily and more 

 thoroughly digested with pepsin-hydrochloric acid than was casein. 



Creatin and creatinin metabolism in dogs during feeding and inanition 

 with especial reference to the function of the liver, Caroline B. Towles and 

 C. VoEGTLiN {Jour. Biol. Chem., 10 (1911), No. 6, pp. ^79-//97).— According to 

 the authors' conclusion, " the more or less constant excretion of creatinin in 

 an animal on a fixed diet is explained by the constancy of the 3 factors whicii 

 determine it, viz, production in the course of catabolism, destruction through 

 the action of enzyms, and kidney secretion, 



" In the dog creatinin and creatin are not true end-products of metabolism. 

 That portion of these substances which appears in the urine is due to the fact 

 that it is excreted by the kidney before destruction occurs. 



" It is shown that the liver does not play the important role in reference to 

 the creatin metabolism that has been ascribed to this organ. 



" The occasional appearance of creatin in the urine after creatinin adminis- 

 tration, as well as the occasional increase of urinary creatinin after creatin 

 administration, suggests the possibility of creatinin hydrolysis being a reversi- 

 ble reaction in the animal organism." 



Concerning the digestion of fat, S. von Pesthy (Biochem. Ztschr., 3i 

 (.1911), No. 1-2, pp. 1 ',7-169; abs. in Chem. Zenthl., 1911, II, No. 10, p. 705).— 

 According to the author's conclusions, the amount of glycerin liberated is an 

 accurate measure of fat cleavage, while the determination of the fatty acids 

 often does not give reliable data. Fat cleavage noted in the stomach is not 

 ascribable to intestinal enzyms which have regurgitated into the stomach, since 

 they lose their activity in the acid stomach contents. Both components of fat, 

 namely, glycerin and fatty acids, are found in the intestinal tract but not in 

 proportion to the chemical formula for fat. 



Experiments on the nutritive value of phosphorus compounds, W. Heubneij 

 (Miinchen. Med. Wchnschr., 58 (1911), No. ^8, pp. 2543, 25-'/^).— In experiments 

 with animals, no differences in phosphorus gains were noted when phosphates 

 and lecithin were supplied in comparison. Additional experiments are planned. 



The influence of taking food upon gaseous exchange and energy metab- 

 olism, A. GiGON (Pfliiger's Arch. Physiol., 1J,0 (1911), No. 11-12, pp. 509- 

 592). — From his own investigations and a digest of data on the subject, the 

 author concludes that the body carries on its fundamental metabolic process 

 independent of the act of taking food. 



Digestion involves a certain amount of work, and even when fasting, the 

 digestive organs perform a little work. Under ordinary conditions as regards 

 nourishment, and also when the body possesses a store of glycogen, intermediate 

 metabolic changes take place when either carbohydrates or proteids are sup- 



