260 EXPEEIMENIi STATION RECORD. 



be dependent upon the extravagant use of numerous and expensive materials, 

 wliicti increase tlie cost, but upon ttie use of economical materials with great 

 attention paid to seasoning and flavoring and to careful methods of cookery. 



Easy meals, Caroline F. Benton {Boston, 1913, pp. VII+325, pis. 8).— The 

 author makes a plea for simple dishes and for their combination into simple 

 meals. Recipes are given and menus illustrating her point of view, Including 

 menus for 7 weeks for the different seasons of the year. Among the subjects 

 considered are school luncheons, invalid meals, and catering from a country 

 market. 



A one-portion food table, F. A. Rexford {[Brooklyn, N. Y.], 1913, 2. ed., pp. 

 29, pi. 1). — The table, which is preceded by some general discussion of diet and 

 dietetics, gives the weight and the protein, fat, and carbohydrate content in 

 ounces and the energy content in calories of individual portions of a large 

 number of animal and vegetable food materials. Charts are also included de- 

 signed to show the relative economy of different food materials as sources of 

 protein and of energy. 



Enameled utensils used in the preparation of food, F. Bordas {Ann. Falsif., 

 7 {1914), No. 63, pp. 49, 50). — This article calls attention to the possible danger 

 in the use of enameled ware in which meat is chopped, in that small particles 

 of the enamel may become detached and thus find their way with the food into 

 the digestive tract, causing damage to its walls. 



A study of the diet and metabolism of Eskimos undertaken in 1908 on 

 an expedition to Greenland, A. and Marie Keogh {Meddel. Gronland, 51 {1914), 

 No. 1, pp. 52, figs. 13; rev. in Zentbl. Biochcm, u. Biophys., 16 {1914), No. 3-4, pp. 

 97, 98; Jour. Chem. Soc. [London], 106 {1914), No. 615, I, p. 106).— The results 

 are reported of an investigation carried on at the Danish Arctic Station for 

 Biological Research in West Greenland. A native man and woman were the 

 subjects, and a respiration chamber of the Jacquet type was used. Among 

 the conclusions reached were the following : 



The normal diet of the Eskimos contains extremely large quantities of animal 

 protein (280 gm.) and much fat (135 gm.), with very small quantities of car- 

 bohydrates (54 gm.), more than half being obtained in the form of glycogen in 

 the flesh eaten. The Eskimos greatly resemble carnivorous animals in that 

 their meals are few and irregular and when food is eaten it is taken to their 

 fullest capacity. Nevertheless, the diet exercises no bad effect, except occa- 

 sionally skin eruptions and often nosebleed after food has been taken in large 

 quantities. The physical sti-ength of these Eskimos and their resistance to 

 the unfavorable climatic conditions are very great. It is especially to be noted 

 that uric acid diseases are of extremely rare occurrence. 



In the metabolism experiments (which were controlled by respiration ex- 

 periments), the maximum daily food taken was 1.S04 gm. of boiled seal meat 

 (supplying 85 gm. nitrogen and 218 gm. fat), a quantity which is said to be 

 much less than the usual amount of meat taken by Eskimos in the open. This 

 quantity of meat was well assimilated, the loss of nitrogen in the feces being 

 at most 3 to 5 gm. per day. The largest amount of nitrogen excreted in the 

 urine in a day was 53 gm. When under experimental conditions an abundant 

 meat diet was taken after a diet lacking nitrogen or a low-nitrogen diet, only 

 about 60 per cent of the nitrogen was excreted in 24 hours, while the remain- 

 ing 40 per cent was retained. 



Long-continued metabolism experiments were not carried out, but the au- 

 thors believe that the protein which the retained nitrogen represents Is held 

 in the body and later used with little loss as a source of energy. These conclu- 

 sions are rendered the more probable by the fact that the .'specific dynnniic 

 effect of the protein was low. as shown by the respiration exiieriments. 



