1910] POODS— HUMAN NUTRITION. 271 



a comparison of the fuel value of the diet with the subsequent Increase la 

 beat production showed the average "cost of digestion" for the Ingestion of 

 pure carbohydrates <>r a predominatingly carbohydrate meal to be about 6 per 

 cent of the fuel value of the food Ingested, of fal approximately 2 per cent, of 

 a protein-rich diet about ]'2 per cent, and of a mixed diet about per cent. 

 The authors assert, however, that "the excess heat produced from the Ingestion 

 of protein or carbohydrates like sugars may not properly be considered as 

 purely a waste process, but thai it Is far more logical to consider it as a general 

 stimulation of all of the cells in preparation for the drafts of muscular activity." 



The results are considered to give no basis for recommending an exclusively 

 protein diet or an exclusively sugar diet prior to muscular work, but to show 

 the value of large diets of either protein, carbohydrate, or mixed nutrients in 

 replenishing the glycogen depots and stimulating the whole body to cellular 

 activity. 



Practical suggestions as to the methods to be employed for an ideal study 

 of the effect upon basal metabolism of ingestion of food and drugs are appended. 



The presence of food accesories in urine, bile, and saliva, A. M. Mucken- 

 fuss (Jour. Amcr. Chem. Soc, kO (1018), No. 10, pp. 1606-1611 : abs. in Chem. 

 Abs., 12 (1918), No. 23. p. 2611). — Experiments are reported in which urine, 

 bile, and .saliva were tested for antineuritic properties by attempting to cure 

 pigeons of acute polyneuritis by treatment per os with fuller's earth activated 

 by the substance under investigation. From the results obtained the author 

 concludes that the antineuritic vitamin is probably present in comparatively 

 small quantity in clean, fresh, filtered bile from the bladder of the ox, and is 

 also present in traces in fresh filtered human urine and in saliva. 



A study of the water-soluble accessory growth-promoting substance. — II, 

 Its influence upon the nutrition and nitrogen metabolism of the rat, J. C. 

 Dkummond (Biochem. Jour., 12 (1918), No. 1-2, pp. 25-.' t l ; abs. in Jour. Chem. 

 Soc. [London], 111, (1918), No. 670, I, pp. 358, 359; Chem. Abs., 12 (1918). No. 

 23, p. 2609). — In continuation of work previously noted (E. S. R., 38, p. 503), 

 observations upon the effect of the water-soluble accessory factor upon the 

 general nutrition of the rat arc reported, the results of which may be summa- 

 rized as follows : 



The food consumption of rats fed upon a diet deficient in water-soluble B 

 Is low, probably being reduced to that sufficient to supply the calorific require- 

 ments of maintenance. Inereared food consumption may be brought about bj 

 the addition to the diet of flavoring agents or by extracts containing ibe water- 

 soluble B. Growth takes place only when the extract contains the water-soluble 

 accessory, and the amount of growth is within certain limits proportional to 

 the amount of accessory substance added. The length of time that an animal Is 

 able to maintain itself upon a diet deficient in water-soluble B without suffering 

 serious loss of body weight seems to be directly proportional to the age at which 

 the restriction is imposed. There is no apparent deviation in the nitrogen 

 metabolism except in the appearance of creatinuria. Actively growing animal 

 tissues and the glands of internal secretion are deficient in water-soluble B. 



The author was unable to determine the cause of the fatal decline which 

 invariably follows a deficiency of water-soluble B. Symptoms of nerve disorder 

 were found in only three of the many i ases studied. 



The alleged antineuritic properties of a-hydroxypyridin and adenin A. 

 Habden and S. S. Zilv.v {Biochem. Jour., 11 (1917). Nn. 2, pp. 172-179).— Th» 

 authors have confirmed most of the facts observed by Williams (E. S. R., 35 

 p. 711) in regard to the chemical nature of a-hydroxypyridin, but were unable 

 by its use to effect a cure or an improvement in the condition of polyneuritic 

 pigeons. Pure adenin, as well as adenin treated with sodium ethylate, yielded 



