770 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECORD. 



The food of the Tasmanian aborigines, F. Noetling {Papers and Proc. Roy. 

 *S'o('. TasiHdnid, I'JIO, pp. .nO-SOo). — A large amount of data is sunnnarized and 

 discussed regardiug the foods and food habits of the now extinct aboriginal 

 inhabitants of Tasmania. As the author points out, there is a general agree- 

 ment of opinion that the diet was very largely of animal origin, shellfish, 

 game, eggs, etc., being supplemented by a limited supply of vegetable foods. 



Free restaurants for nursing mothers (Restaurants Gratuits des Mdrcs 

 Noiirrices. Paris, \1907], pp. 16, figs. 2). — An account is given of the establish- 

 ment of restaurants fur supplying free food to nursing mothers in Tarls and the 

 success which has attended the enterprise. 



Household chemistry, J. F. Snell (Montreal, Id 11, pp. 65). — In addition to 

 a discussion of the elementary principles of chemistiy which are of special in- 

 terest in this connection, the topics considered are acids, bases, and salts, and 

 their relation to cleaning processes; fats and "soaps; and food constituents and 

 their composition, digestion, identification, and chemical characteristics. Ap- 

 pended to the text are a number of tables showing the composition of common 

 food materials and other similar data. The present publication, which the 

 author regards as preliminary to a more extended treatise, brings together in 

 concise form a great deal of interesting material of use to students. 



General treatise on nutrition, G. Lebbin (Allgemeine Nahrungsmittellcunde. 

 Berlin, 1911, pp. Xl+SJfS, figs. 57). — This handbook contains chapters on meat, 

 fish, game, fruits, vegetables, and other foods, and on beAerages. 



Nutrition and growth, I, H. Akon (Philippine Jour. Sci., B. Med. Sci., 6 

 (1911), No. 1. pp. 1-52, pis. I), dgms. 5). — Experimental studies of dogs are re- 

 ported, together with the results of observations on nursing children. 



The author concludes that " a growing animal which receives only sufficient 

 food to keep its body weight constant, or to allow a slight increase, is in a 

 condition of severe starvation. If by a restriction of food the increase in weight 

 is inhibited, the skeleton grows at the expense of other parts of the body, es- 

 pecially of the flesh. Most of the organs retain their weight and size, while 

 the brain grows to i"each its normal weight. The composition of the body — 

 when at a constant weight — undergoes remarkable changes. Fat is consumed 

 more or less entirely, the quantity of protein, esi>ecially of the muscles but 

 not of the organs, is diminished and a great proportion of the body tissues is 

 replaced by water ; thus, this water and the increase of the skeleton together 

 replace the body materials lost. The caloric value of 1 gm. body weight of an 

 animal which has undergone such a process to its extreme limit may amount to 

 only one-third of the normal value. 



" It is possible by supplying suitable amounts of food to maintain a dog in 

 an emaciated condition, apparently in good health, and at the weight of a 

 puppy, for nearly 1 year, while its weight at the end of the year should be 3 

 times as great. If such an animal is thereupon fed amply, it fattens and rounds 

 out, but does not reach the size of a control animal which from the beginning 

 has been normally fed. It is unable to make good the growth suspended by 

 the long restriction of food. 



" The ' growth ' principally depends on the tendency to grow possessed by the 

 skeleton. The skeleton loses its capability of growing in more advanced age 

 regardless of the size which the animal has reached." 



See also a previous note (E. S. R.. 24, p. 765). 



The digestibility of white of egg as infl.uenced by the temperature at 

 which it is coagulated, P. Frank (Jour. Biol. Chem., 9 (1911), No. 6, pp. Jf63- 

 470, dgms, 2). — Some of the conclfsions drawn from experimental work are 

 quoted. 



