FOODS — HUMAN NUTRITION. 761 



authors are of the opinion that the following conclusions may be safely 

 drawn: 



" In all species except man and the higher apes . . . allantoin is quantitatively 

 by far the most important product of purin metabolism. In camivora and 

 rodents ' uricolysis ' is always practically complete; in the monkey it is 

 slightly, in the opossum decidedly, less so ; among ungulates there is no definite 

 rule. While in the majority of species uric acid is excreted in greater 

 abundance than purin bases, there are instances, especially frequent among the 

 ungulates, where the reverse is true; the precise relation between the two is, 

 even for the species, not so constant as the uricolytic index. The total endo- 

 genous purin metabolism per unit of weight is in a general way inversely related 

 to the size of the animal ; but there are notable exceptions." 



The specific role of foods in relation to the composition of the urine, N. R. 

 Blatheewick {Proc. Amer. Soc. Biol. Chem., 3 (1913), No. 1, pp. 3/f, 35). — A 

 summary of a paper presented at the eighth annual meeting of the American 

 Society of Biological Chemists at Philadelphia, Pa., in December, 1913. Experi- 

 ments were made with healthy men on a uniform diet, to which single foods were 

 added during the experimental period after normal values had been established. 



According to the author, the results showed that " some vegetables and fruits, 



4- 



because of their content of bases, are markedly efficient in reducing f-j^\ and 



ammonia excretion. They also produce conditions which enable the urines to 

 dissolve uric acid. Potatoes, oranges, bananas, apples, raisins, cantaloups, and 

 tomatoes caused such effects. The presence of certain organic acids in fruits 

 leads to an increased acid production due to their incombustibility in the body. 

 Cranberries, plums, and prunes are examples. Benzoic acid, which is found 



4- 

 in them, was also shown to produce like results. All urines ol /-^-^ less than 



7.00 were capable of dissolving uric acid when opportunity offered. When the 

 (H") ^^^ greater than 1X10-', uric acid pi'ecipitated, i. e., the urines were super- 

 saturated. The average /2\ of 30 vegetarian urines was found to be 6.63 



as compared with the higher value of 6.03 obtained for normal urines by 

 Henderson and Palmer." 



Concerning the theory of the constancy of uric acid excretion in indi- 

 viduals, O. Faustka iPfliiger's Arch. Physiol, 155 {1914), No. 10-12, pp. 523- 

 546, fig. 1). — From his investigations the author concludes that in the case of 

 adults the excretion of uric acid is a xihysiological constant under like conditions. 



Studies on enzym action. — X, The lipolytic properties of human duodenal 

 contents, K. G. Falk {Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 36 {1914), No. 5, pp. 1041- 

 1057). — In a number of cases, under varying conditions, the lipolytic activity of 

 human doudenal contents was tested. 



Two lipases were found to be present. " One of these, found as a rule after 

 Ingestion of food, was, under certain definite experimental conditions, more 

 active toward triacetin than toward ethyl butyrate; the other, present when 

 no food had been taken, was more active toward ethyl butyrate than toward 

 triacetin. The importance of these two lipases in diagnostic work was 

 pointed out. . . . 



" The effect of a number of neutral salts and alcohols in different concentra- 

 tions on the activity of the duodenal contents on the two esters was studied." 



Concerning lipoid-free diet and its relation to beri-beri and scurvy, W. 

 Stepp {Deut. Med. Wchmchr., 40 {1914), No. 18, pp. 892-895).— A summary and 



