FOODS HUMAN NUTEITION. 463 



other couditions, nutrition in childhood, the feeding of necessitous school chil- 

 dren, and similar questions are considered. Suggestions are made for future 

 work. 



In closing the paper, which was one of the public addresses at the Fifteenth 

 International Congress on Hygiene and Demography, the author states that 

 " the nutrition of the great mass of the people is a question of the highest 

 importance, deserving far more attention than it has hitherto received. All 

 the great countries ought to have a central authority, a food commission, which 

 should concern itself exclusively with the far-reaching questions of the well- 

 being of the people. The material as it lies before us to-day is very incom- 

 plete, but suffices to indicate the main lines of useful work. The nutrition of 

 the masses has so far been most studied with regard to political economy and 

 according to methods and viewpoints which do not always withstand the tests 

 of the physiology of nutrition. Only by means of the physiology of nutrition 

 is it possible to carry on exact research. 



" The nutrition of the masses is to us a problem which may be approached 

 and improved from many different sides. It is necessary that not only the 

 hygienists, in the narrower sense, take up the struggle for betterment, but that 

 also the great army of men who are truly humanic in their hearts shall take 

 their places beside us." 



People and diet — some questions and solutions, M. Rtjbner, trans, by E. 

 Bertarelli (Popolo ed Aliment azione — Quesiti e Solusioni. Turin, 1913, pp. 

 180). — See a previous note (E. S. R., 20, p. 662), covering much the same 

 ground. 



Viewpoints in the study of growth, L. B. Mendel (Biochem. Bui., 3 (1914), 

 No. 10, pp. 156-176). — Theories of growth, the possibilities of growth, limita- 

 tions, and other topics are considered in this digest of data on growth and 

 growth phenomena. 



Prenatal care, Mrs. M. West (U. 8. Dept. Labor, Children's Bur. Pub.. Care 

 of Children Scr. 1, No. 4 {1913), 3. ed., pp. 41)- — Food and diet are among the 

 subjects discussed in this summary of data. 



Change of diet in certain skin diseases, Y. Gershun {Practiceski Vratch, 

 12 {1913), No. 21, pp. 314-316; abs. in Chem. Abs., 8 {1914), No. 5, p. 955).— 

 Infants that are breast fed frequently have skin diseases. This is due to the 

 presence of certain poisons in the mother's diet. Psoriasis vulgaris and eczema 

 were often cured by putting the patient on a strictly vegetarian diet. 



Studies of beri-beri, X, XI, C. Funk {Hoppe-Seyler's Ztschr. Physiol. Chem., 

 89 {1914) ^0. 5, pp. 313-380). — Experimental data are reported in refutation of 

 the theory of the toxic origin of beri-beri. 



In experiments with pigeons beri-beri occurred at the same time when like 

 amounts of either cooked or uncooked polished rice were fed exclusively. The 

 disease also occurred when a ration of casein, fat, starch, sugar, and salts was 

 fed. Commercial casein contains a trace of vitamin. When this was destroyed 

 by cooking or by extraction with alcohol, beri-beri occurred more quickly than 

 otherwise. An alcoholic extract made from pigeons suffering with beri-beri had 

 a curative effect in the case of others and did not produce any toxic symptoms. 

 Pigeons contracted beri-beri without using up entirely their stored vitamin. 



See also previous notes (E. S. R., 29, p. 664; 30, p. 865). 



Increased amounts of carbohydrates hastened the incidence of beri-beri, as 

 did also the addition of starch and sugar to a standard diet. This shows that 

 vitamins play an important role in the metabolism of carbohydrates and that 

 they have a greater effect in the metabolism of starch than in that of other 

 food constituents. 



