68 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Foodstuffs [and drug's], I). Hooi'kk (.1/(//. Riit. Indian Mks. Indus. Sect.. 

 J'JOS-'J, pp. 13-16). — Data are given regarding the analyses of Burmese sea- 

 weed (Catanclla impudica), cassava starch, plantain meal, the fruits of a wild 

 date (Phwnix paludo/ia), and a number of samples of rice and drugs. The 

 wild date fruits were tested for sugar, but the (piantity found was so small 

 that iu the author's opinion it could not b«' lu'ofitably separated for industrial 

 purjMjses. 



Products for foodstuffs and special use, (\ Siiimooka (In Af/riciillnrc in 

 .Iiijiiin. Tokifo: (lort., I DOS, pp. J.ll-llH). — Data are given regarding the aver- 

 age acreage over a jteriod of years and the average yearly i)roduction in .Japan 

 of rice of different sorts and of other cereals, of soy beans, sweet potatoes, j»ota- 

 toes, and some other agricultural crops. 



Scattered thi-ough this and other sections of the volume may be found nnich 

 information regarding the kind and amount of vegetable and animal food 

 jiroducts used in .Japan, the present food habits as compared with those of 

 earlier times, and similar topics. 



The balance between inorganic acids and bases in animal nutrition, E. P>. 

 Forbes (Ohio Std. liiil. 21)1, pp. .i.i-').i). — This bulletin seeks to show the bear- 

 ing upon practical animal nutrition of the relationship between those mineral 

 elements of our foodstuffs and of living animal tissues, which in the body give 

 rise to Inorganic acids, and the various means at the disposal of the animal 

 for accomplishing protection from these acids through effecting their neutraliza- 

 tion. The relation of ash constituents to human nutrition in general is also 

 considered. The results of investigations on this subject are reviewed in detail 

 and some of the conclusions of the author are as follows: 



" [Mineral] acids are formed chiefly by the cleavage and oxidation of the 

 proteids, either of the body or of the food, the sulphur and phosphorus con- 

 tained therein, as constituent parts, being oxidized to the corresponding in- 

 organic acids. . . . 



•' The continued neutralization of excessive amounts of acids by some of these 

 means, especially by use of the carbonates of the bones, may mold the whole 

 style of development of a gi'owing animal; may cause serious states of malnu- 

 trition and may act as contributory causes of a number of diseases of both man 

 and other animals. . . . 



•' The practical bearing of the subject is on the feeding of such animals as 

 are reared most largely on cereals, namely, swine and poultry ; especially on 

 the growth of the bones of animals; on acidosis in infants; and on the care 

 of sufferers from rickets, osteomalacia, osteoporosis, bran disease, and 

 diabetes. . . . 



" It is important not only that there be a considerable excess of mineral 

 bases in the food but also that this excess be maintained at a high level, that 

 is, that aside from the balance between acid and base, the total quantity of ash 

 should be considerable. . . . 



"The capacity of the animal body to neutralize and eliminate alkali seems 

 to be entirely adequate. In practice, animals do not experience injurious excess 

 of alkali as they do excess of acid. 



" Consumption of a needless amount of protein unnecessarily taxes the acid- 

 neutralizing capacity of the anmial, and if carried to a sufficient extreme, results 

 either in discouragement of the formation of bone or in malnutrition of the 

 bones. . . . 



"A high fat-content, or indigestible character of the fat of milk fed to infants 

 suffering from digestive disturbances, causes acid intoxication by withdrawal 

 of alkalis, by way of the feces, in the condition of difficultly soluble calcium 

 soaps. . . . 



