FOODS HUMAN NUTRITION. 161 



The chemical composition of meat extract, A. M. Wright (Trans. New 

 Zeal. Inst., 43 (1910), pp. 1-6). — Analytical data are reported of meat extract, 

 including mineral matter as well as other constituents, and a yeast extract, and 

 the results discussed. The meat extract, the author points out, has little food 

 value, but he rej?ards it as "most valuable as a dietary adjunct." 



The food value of skim m^ilk and the nutritive value of condensed skim 

 milk (Riv. Set. LaU^, 3 (1913), No. 5, pp. 71-78).— The relative cost and 

 nutritive value of skim milk and a number of other common food materials are 

 compared. A comparison is also given of the nutritive ratios of several brands 

 of condensed skim and whole milks. 



Eggs considered from the point of view of food value, Tj. Delate (liul. 

 Boc. Salubrite, Prov. Licgc, 16 (1913), pp. 67-8.',; Bui. Hoc. Chim. Bclg., 27 

 (1913), Nos. 8-9, p. 236; 12, pp. 310, 311).— The nutritive value of eggs is dis- 

 cussed and statistics regarding egg production, particularly in Belgium, are 

 given. 



Lard, A. McGill (Lah. Inland Rev. Dept. Canada Bui. 272 (1913), pp. 21). — 

 Out of 182 samples pui'chased in Canada, 169 were found to be genuine. Eight 

 of the remainder were adulterated and three contained an excess of water. 

 The adulteration in all cases consisted of added foreign fat of vegetable origin. 



Vegetable foods; their distinctive characteristics and classification, H. H. 

 RusBY (Jour. N. Y. Bot. Card., 15 (1914), ^0. 169, pp. 1-5). — A summary of a 

 lecture delivered at the New York Botanical Garden calling attention, among 

 other things, to the similar nutritive value of foods derived from the same 

 general botanical family. The author outlines briefly a system of calculating 

 the nutritive value of rations, employing a method which involves the expres- 

 sion of tha nutritive value of foods by their equivalents in carbohydrates, but 

 does not take into account the twofold function of nitrogenous foods. 



The digestion of vegetable foods, W. J. Gies (Jour. N. Y. Bot. Gard., 15 

 (1914), No. 169. pp. 5-9). — In this abstract of a lecture delivered at the New 

 York Botanical Garden the author summarizes in schematic form data regard- 

 ing digestibility. 



Gastric digestion of the proteins of bread and raw meat in man, E. Ztjnz 

 and M. Cerf (Biii. Acad. Roy. Med. Belg., 4. ser., 27 (1913), No. 6, pp. 552- 

 581). — The problem was studied with normal men and women, with subjects 

 with cancer of the stomach, and with laboratory animals (dogs and a cat). 

 Horseflesh was used in the exj^eriments with man and beef or horseflesh in the 

 tests with laboratory animals. In the tests with man the stomach contents 

 were removed and examined an hour after the ingestion of raw meat, raw 

 meat and bread 3 : 1, and raw meat and bread 1 : 1. Data are given regarding 

 the kind and proportion of the different proteids found in the stomach contents 

 in each test. 



The authors conclude that in normal individuals about 60 per cent of the pro- 

 tein was unchanged (i. e., was still coagulable). Of the remainder, or incoagu- 

 lable portion, acid albumins made up from 7 to 14 per cent ; proteoses, from 60 

 to 65 per cent ; and peptones and polypeptids, a little over 25 per cent. Judging 

 by the results obtained, gastric digestion does not proceed so far in normal man 

 as in the dog. 



The chemical composition of a number of corn-meal products and the 

 digestibility of the nitrogenous material by pepsin and hydrochloric acid, 

 in comparison with the digestibility of protein substances in certain other 

 cereals and legumes, O. Rammstedt (Arch. Hijg., 81 (1913), No. 6, pp. 286- 

 306). — Proximate analyses are reported as well as more detailed analyses of 

 the protein, carbohydrate, and phosphorus content of different samples and also 

 the results of artificial digestion experiments. A fetiture of this work was the 



