FOODS NUTRITION. 579 



an isodynamic quantity of alcohol was fed in place of a part of the sugar in the 

 ration of a working sul)ject a .short time before the performance of tlie work, 

 unfavorable results were obtained. 



Concerning' metabolism in adult man with, special reference to the amount 

 of protein required, \'. O. Siven {Sk-ainl. An-li. PJii/siol., 11 [1901), No. 5-6, jyp. 

 30S-3S2). — Continuing i)revious work (E. S. R., 11, p. 1067) the author reports a 

 number of experiments, in which he was himself the subject, to determine the possi- 

 bility of bringing the body into nitrogen equililirum with a diet containing a very 

 small amount of protein. The experiments led to the following conclusions: It is 

 possible to bring the body, at least for a short time, into nitrogen equilibrium when 

 the diet contains, per kilogram body weight, from 0.7 to 0.8 gm. nitrogen, of which 

 only some 0.3 gm. is necessarily albuminoid nitrogen. When the amount of nitro- 

 gen consumed is so low the energy requirement of the body is not increased, but is 

 as great as under ordinary conditions with a diet rich in protein. AVhen the pro- 

 tein in the diet is increased, after the body has lost a large amount of nitrogen, there 

 is at once an effort to attain nitrogen equilibrium and it appears that any gain of 

 nitrogenous material is a comparatively slow process. This apparently indicates that 

 living substance must be slowly formed from the protein supplied in the diet. The 

 data are also recorded for the sulphur and phosphorus balance, and results obtained 

 are discussed at some length. 



Concerning the utilization of protein in the food, H. Lichtenfelt {Arch. 

 Physiol. l:PtJuger'], 86 {1901), No. 3-4, pp- 185-193). — A summary of experiments on 

 the digestibility of animal and vegetable protein led to the conclusion that the assimi- 

 lation of this nutrient must be regarded as a body function and not a property of the 

 I)rotein itseif. 



The amount of protein cleavage in fasting, E. Voit {Ztschr. Biol., 41 {1901), 

 No. 2, pp. 167-195). — Experiments with fasting subjects are sumnmrized and the 

 conclusion drawn that the cleavage of protein during fasting depends not alone upon 

 the amount of material broken down at a given time, but also upon the relation of 

 protein to fat in the body. 



Effects on dig-estion of food prepared by the use of alum baking- powders, 

 E. E. Smith {New York Med. Jour., 72 {1900), pp. 719-721). — As a means of judging 

 of the heathfulness of bread made with alum baking powder the author conducted 

 experiments with a healthy man in which bread made with such baking powder was 

 compared with bread leavened with sodium l)icarbonate and hydrochloric acid. The 

 alum baking powder had approximately the following combination: Sodium carbon- 

 ate, 1 part; desiccated soda alum, 1 part; starch, 3 parts. When the stomach contents 

 were examined after eating test meals consisting of the 2 sorts of bread and water no 

 marked differences were observed in total acidity, total, free and combined hydro- 

 chloric acid, or the pepsin test. The slight differences, in the author's opinion, were 

 all within the limits of experimental error. The digestibility of the 2 sorts of bread 

 was tested in the usual way with a healthy man. Meat, milk, and butter were eaten 

 in addition to the bread, the amounts being the same in the two cases. Corrections 

 were not made for the metabolic products in the feces, and the digestibility (which 

 the author terms "availability ") of the bread made with alum baking powder was 

 as follows. Total solids, 95.9; protein, 90.9; fat, 94.63, and carbohydrates, 98.05 per 

 cent. The digestibility of the control bread was: Total solids, 95.9; protein, 89.9; 

 fat, 94.4, and carViohydrates, 98.4 per cent. As pointed out by the author, the 

 agreement is as close as could be expected even in duplicate experiments. The 

 volume, specific gravity, nitrogen, indican, and combined sulphate in the urine was 

 determined in the tests, practically the same results being obtained in both cases. 



" The composition of the in-ines in the two periods, as regards the constituents 

 indicating the degree of absorption of such aromatic products of putrefaction as are 



