1910] POODS — HUMAN NUTRITION. 273 



iiuthor has Investigated the effect of moat and of tiicalcium phosphate and 

 other salts upon (lie development of scurvy in the guinea pig. 



An improvement of the protein of the diet was found to protect guinea pigs 

 from scurvy for a number of weeks and to greatly prolong the life of the 

 animals, even though the physical character of the diet was not improved. A 

 study of the effect of trlcaldum phosphate, sodium chlorld, and caleium chlorid 



owed that the calcium and chlorin ions are of greater importance in the 

 development of the disease than is phosphorus. The evidence given in the 

 three papers upon scurvy is summarized as follows: 



"The physical character of the diet and the character of the flora of the 

 digestive tract are clearly of prime importance in the production of this dis- 

 ease, but other factors, such as those which make the diet more nearly chem- 

 ically complete, which stimulate appetite and increase the flow of digestive 

 juices and increase the resistance of the animals, which decrease the permea- 

 bility of the intestinal wall, and winch aid in correcting a deranged chlorin 

 metabolism, are of great importance and will protect tht animals from scurvy 

 for a considerable time. These experiments point to the little emphasized 

 role of calcium salts in nutrition, namely, that of controlling the permeability 

 of various animal tissues and thereby affording protection against invading 

 agents." 



Observations on three cases of scurvy, V. StefAnsson (Jour. Amer. Med. 

 Assoc, 11 (WIS), No. 21, pp. 1115-11 IS).— The author has described three rases 

 of scurvy occurring among members of the Canadian Arctic Expedition in the 

 winter of 191G-17. The conclusions drawn from observations of these and 

 other cases not reported are as follows : 



The strongest antiscorbutic qualities reside in certain fresh foods, and di- 

 minish or disappear with storage by any of the common methods of preserva- 

 tion, such as canning, pickling, drying, etc. Cooking lessens or destroys the 

 antiscorbutic value of most or all foods. Meat and fish slightly or well ad- 

 vanced in the process of ordinary putrefaction seem to be as good an antiscor- 

 butic as fresh flesh. Bodily cleanliness and ventilation have not been shown 

 to have any bearing on the incidence or severity of scurvy. Exercise does not 

 prevent scurvy. Salt probably has some direct bearing on the history of the 

 disease, as shown by the fact that salt meats have long been recognized as 

 predisposing to scurvy and that most scurvy patients have a craving for salt 

 which disappears as the cure proceeds. 



Experimental chronic beri-beri syndrome, E. Weill and G. Moubiqtjand 

 (Compt. Rend. Soc. Biol. [Paris]. 81 (1918), No. 8, pp. 4S2-43G). — Chronic beri- 

 beri was produced in pigeons by the use of a partially deficient diet consisting 

 of a mixture of one-third uncooked whole grain with two-thirds sterilized grain. 

 The disease was characterized by an Initial paralysis of the wings, sometimes 

 followed by paralysis of the feet, also in one case by severe lesions of the bones. 

 These chronic beriberi symptoms, contrary to the acute form, showed a com- 

 plete resistance to treatment with grain polishings. The authors consider the 

 paralysis functional In the case of acute and lesional in the case of chronic 

 beri-beri. 



The phenol excretion of guinea pigs maintained on an exclusive oat diet, 

 W. G. Kabb and H. B. Lewis (Amer. Jour. Physiol., -}-J (1911), No. 4, pp. 586- 

 ■590). — In guinea pigs on an oat diet no changes in the urinary elimination of 

 ■ phenols nor in the degree of conjugation of the phenols were observed, provided 

 the factor of partial starvation was ruled out. This is considered by the au- 

 thors to substantiate the theory advanced by McCollum and Pitz (E. S. It., 38, 

 p. OGS) that the injury to the intestine is mechanical, permitting bacterial in- 

 vasion of the tissues, rather than the alternate theory that the injury may be 



