FOODS NUTRITION. 185 



to provide an entirely satisfactory diet without unnecessary waste, and thus materially 

 reduce the cost (See also E. S. R., 15, p. 703.) 



Who is underfed? H. Stern {New York Med. Jour, and Philadelphia Med. Jour., 

 79 {1904), pp. 811, 812; Dietet. and Hyg. (in:., 20 (1904), No. 7, pp. 405-409) .—In con- 

 nection with a discussion of food with special reference to underfeeding and over- 

 feeding, the author considers the food requirements of normal individuals. In his 

 opinion a normal individual may remain in good physical condition on a diet fur- 

 nishing 30 to 35 calories of total energy or 23 to 28 calories of assimilable energy per 

 day per kilogram of weight. He states that in his experience women have been 

 found to require only a very little less energy than men. 



Contribution to the metabolism of phosphorus, L. Buchmann (Ztschr. Diatet. 

 u. Phys. Ther., 8 (1904), Nos. 2, pp. 67-74; -A pp. US- 160). —In experiments with 2 

 convalescent patients, in which egg yolk with and without added lecithin and edestin 

 formed a part of the diet, the income and outgo of nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, 

 and magnesium were studied, as well as the digestibility of fat and carbohydrates. 



The conclusion was drawn that lecithin must be regarded as very important in 

 inducing gains of tissue containing phosphorus. The experiments did not furnish 

 data for judging how much it surpassed other organic phosphorus compounds. 

 Since it was so superior to edestin combined with inorganic phosphorus compounds 

 in the experiments reported, it seemed clear in the author's opinion that inorganic 

 phosphorus was all excreted. Whether or not this is always the case must be learned 

 by further experiments. No relation between the excretion of nitrogen and phos- 

 phorus was noted. 



The metabolism of phosphorus in the adult man, C. Tigekstedt (Skand. 

 Arch. Physiol., 16 (1904), No. 1-2, pp. 67-78). — The author was himself the subject 

 of experiments in which the metabolism of phosphorus was studied in a diet made 

 up of starch, butter, sugar, etc., and practically free from phosphorus. The average 

 amount in the feces was 0.134 gm. per day, a quantity which the author considers 

 practically equal to the amount excreted through the intestines as a metabolic product. 



The income and outgo of phosphorus was determined on a mixed diet, but no 

 conclusion could be drawn as to the question whether increased consumption of this 

 constituent results in retention rather than equilibrium. On a vegetarian diet the 

 percentage amount of phosphorus excreted in the feces was greater than on a mixed 

 diet. In these tests the balance of income and outgo of nitrogen was also reported 

 and discussed. When the diet contained practically no nitrogen the average amount 

 excreted in the feces was 0.65 gm. per day. 



A metabolism experiment with vegetarians, W. Caspari and K. Glaessner 

 {Ztschr. Diatet. u. Phys. Ther. ,7 {1904), No. 9, pp. 475-485). — On a strictly vegetarian 

 diet one of the subjects, a man, digested 73.79 per cent protein and 88.49 percent 

 fat, the energy of the digested food being 91.11 per cent of that of the total food. 

 Similar values for the other subject, a woman, were 75. 79, 89. 92, and 92.93 per cent. 

 The balance of income and outgo of nitrogen was determined, as well as the differ- 

 ent nitrogenous constituents of the urine. 



The author points out that the physiological nutritive value of the vegetarian 

 ration was about the same as in the case of a mixed diet, the greater loss of energy 

 in the feces being offset by the smaller loss in the urine. Creatin was found in the 

 urine, but no creatinin. The other constituents of the urine are briefly spoken of. 



Review of agricultural investigations [on the nutrition of man], L. Oka.n- 

 deae {Temps [Paris], H>Q4, May 7 and SI). — Apropos of the organization of a new 

 society in France in the interests of the hygiene of nutrition and the rational feeding 

 of man, the author summarizes and discusses nutrition investigations which have 

 been carried on in the United States, especially those conducted under the aus- 

 pices of the C trice of Experiment Stations. 



