868 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.40 



with a meat diet, were absent. Milk casein and vegetable proteins showed far 

 less tendency to give rise to intestinal putrefaction than did meat proteins. 



The author concludes that under normal physiological conditions the funda- 

 mental factor controlling the types of bacteria originating in the intestinal 

 tract is the chemical character of the food ingested, while secondary con- 

 trolling factors of almost equal weight are the rate and degree of the diges- 

 tion and absorption of the food and the character of the end products of the 

 digestive process. 



Clinical calorimetry.— XXVI-XXVIII (Arch. Int. Med.. 21 (1918), No. 5, 

 pp. 61S-658, figs. U f ). — Three papers are presented in continuation of earlier 

 work (E. S. R., 37, p. 266). 



XXVI. The effect of a small breakfast on heat production, G. F. Soder- 

 strom, D. P. Barr, and E. F. DuBois (pp. 613-620). — Tin experiments were 

 made on five subjects to determine the extent of the rise in metabolism fol- 

 lowing a small meal. The standard breakfast used in all observations con- 

 sisted of 30 gm. bread, 8 gm. butter, 10 gm. sugar, and 60 cc. milk, equivalent 

 to 4.7 gm. protein, 0.0 gm. fat, and 2S.9 gm. carbohydrate, or 222 calories. It 

 was found that the heat production increased on an average of 7 per cent 

 in the first hour and 2 per cent in the second and third bonis, while in the 

 sixth, seventh, and eighth hours the metabolism was slightly lower than be- 

 fore breakfast 



XXVII. Metabolism of boys 12 and 1.' f years old, H. W. Olmstead, D. P. Barr, 

 and E. F. DuBois (pp. 621-626). — The effect of ape on heat production was 

 observed in 1015 in the case of 8 Boy Scouts, averaging from 12 to 13 years 

 of age. In 1017 these same hoys were studied under experimental conditions 

 which were practically unchanged. A comparison of these studies shows an 

 average decrease with increasing age of 13 per cent in metabolism. At the 

 age of 14 and 15 the average metabolism was 44.1 calories per square meter 

 of body surface per hour. This is 11 per cent above the average for men 

 between the ages of 20 and 40 years. 



XXVIII. The metabolism in malariai fever, D. P. Barr and E. F. DuBois 

 (pp. 627-658). — Both direct and indirect calorimetry were used and the fol- 

 lowing conclusions deduced: 



Increased heat production on the part of the body is responsible for the 

 rise of the pyrexial temperature. Heat elimination is slightly increased, and 

 Increased heat eliminaton causes the body temperature to fall. Heat produc- 

 ton is slightly hypernormal, but aside from increased protein metabolism no 

 abnormal processes of metabolism are present in malarial fever. The per- 

 centage of heat lost in the vaporization of water bears a prop"" ion to heat 

 elimination in malarial paroxysms. 



The distribution among foodstuffs (especially those suitable for the ration- 

 ing of armies) of the substances required for the prevention of (a) beri-beri 

 and (b) scurvy. H. Chick and E. M. Humf. (-four. BOf. Army Med. Corps, 29 

 (1917). No. 2. pp. 121-159. fin*. K). — The distribution of the antiberi-beri vita- 

 min was investigated by a study of experimental polyneuritis in pigeons. The 

 presence and relative amount of the vitamin contained in various foodstuffs 

 was determined by means of curative experiments and hy preventive trials 

 with specially selected diets. The authors claim that tins vitamin was found 

 in almost every natural foodstuff examined, the most important sources beinir 

 the seeds of plants, such as cereal grains, where it was found mainly in the 

 germ or embryo, the eggs of animals and yeast and yeast extracts. The anti- 

 beri-berl vitamin was found to be resistant to drying, since dried foods could 

 be used to combat heri-beri. 



