668 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



is prepared at home mikI is miiiolishcd ; p<ilisIi(Ml or ' uucui-cd ' rice 1h found 

 only very rarely. . . . 



"The cost of the food for one i)erson ranges between !) .ind I(] cetitnvos daily, 

 with an average of 12* centavos per i)erson. ... In a provincial town a Fili- 

 pino can live very comfortably on about 12 centavos a day." See also a previous 

 note (K. S. II.. 21. p. TCS;). 



General sanitary conditions [in Taytayl. P. Clements (Philippine Jour, 

 i^ci., B. Med, Sci., /, (lUO!)), No. },, pp. 2.'i7-255, pis. //).— In a discussion of the 

 general sanitary conditions in this Philippine village the author sunnnarizes a 

 considerable amount of data regarding the kinds of foods used and their prepa- 

 ration, the construction of houses, water supply, the disposal of refuse, and 

 related topics. 



Summary and conclusions [regarding the native village of Taytayl, Tl. P. 

 Stuong {I'll Hip pi lie Jour. ,SV(.. B. Mrd. Sri., J, {1909). \o. .'/, /)/). 2^9-299, 

 pis. 3). — In this article, which summarizes reports undertaken as a part of a 

 medical survey of Taytay, some of which have been referred to above, data are 

 included regarding the food habits and other living conditions. 



The chemical regulation of the processes of the body by means of activa- 

 tors, kinases, and hormones, W. H. Howell (Science, n. scr., 31 (1910), No. 

 786, pp. 93-100). — In this address, delivered at the Boston meeting of the Amer- 

 ican Association for the Advancement of Science, December, 1909, the chemical 

 regulation of digestive processes and other pi'ocesses in the animal body is dis- 

 ,cussed, and some of the newer theories which have to do with these topics are 

 considered. 



The osmotic pressure of liquid foods, J, L. Jona (Bio-Chcm. Jour., 4 (1909), 

 No. 10, pp. 462--^i66). — Coffee, tea, alcoholic beverages, lemon juice, diluted mo- 

 lasses, soups, beef tea, sugar solutions, fruit juices, proprietary foods, and saline 

 aperient solutions were used in the experiments reported. 



Quotations from the author's general conclusions follow : 



"Of all the fluid foods which are admitted to the stomach, alcoholic bev- 

 erages and fruit juices alone are hypertonic. Further, it may be safely stated 

 that in no case is a fluid admitted in which hypertonicity is due to the mineral 

 ingredients alone. When, therefore, we find the kidney elaborating a fluid 

 (urine) with sufficient saline ingredients to render it hypertonic, we must re- 

 gard the high concentration of this fluid as so much external work done and of 

 sufficient moment to be taken into consideration in calorinietric exiieriments on 

 an animal or on the human subject. These experiments also demonstrate that 

 we must ascribe to the sense of taste a distinct osmotactic character. Not only 

 is this sense potent in testing the food qualitatively, but also from the quanti- 

 tative standpoint of molecular concentration. Even those hypertcmic fruit 

 juices which are admitted to the stomach are passed, so to say, under protest, 

 for their taste is recognized as astringent or highly acid, and are apt to be fol- 

 lowed by a sense of thirst. . . . 



" The great majority of fluid foods are, however, hjiiotonic, and thus a mar- 

 gin is left for the addition of liydrochloric acid and other constituents of the 

 gastric juice. . . . 



" The association of the raising of osmotic pressure of beverages with the 

 induction of thirst is made use of in some dei»artnients of conunerce by the ex- 

 cessive salting of wines and tlie oversugaring of ' summer drinks.' In the case 

 of cane sugar, a solution isosmotic with the blood would be about 11 per cent, 

 whereas the fluid which reaches the stomach as a result of even the slow 

 methods of ingestion of sweetmeats, as exemplified in the process of sucking 

 confectionery, is much higher than this, and accounts for the disagreeable after- 

 results very often experienced after overindulgence in such delicacies." 



