366 EXPEEIMENT STATION KECOKD. 



The harmlessness of vinegar eels in the human and animal organism, H. 

 WusTENFELD {Deut. Essigifidus., 19 {1915), No. 11, pp. 53, 54). — ^According to 

 the experiments here reported a large number of Aiuegar eels were ingested 

 without producing intestinal physiological disturbances. 



The metabolism of white races living in the Tropics. — I, Protein metab- 

 olism, W. J. Young (Ann. Trop. Med. and Par., 9 {1915), No. 1, pp. 91-108). — 

 To determine whether tissue metabolism takes place to a greater extent in a 

 tropical country than in a temperate climate a number of measurements were 

 made of excretory nitrogen and sulfur catabolized by white men living in 

 Queensland, Australia. No considerable variation is reported from the aver- 

 ages obtained in tempei'ate climates, except that the excretion of neutral sul- 

 phur was consistently high. 



Gastro-intestinal studies. — VII, The utilization of ingested protein as in- 

 fluenced by undermastication (bolting) and overmastication (Eletcherizing), 

 L. F. Foster and P. B. Hawk {Jour. Amer. Cliem. Soc, 31 {1915), No. 5, pp. 

 1347-1361). — In this investigation was studied the effect of different degrees of 

 mastication upon the utilization of a typical protein. The subjects of experi- 

 ment (two young men) were fed a uniform diet, the principal ingredients of 

 which were beef, graham crackers, and milk. The beef, which furnished the 

 major portion of the protein, was cooked in the form of 15-mm. cubes. 



The experiment was divided into four 7-day periods, as follows : Prelimi- 

 nary normal, during which the food was masticated normally ; bolting, in 

 which the meat was swallowed with no attempt at mastication ; Fletcherizing, 

 when the food was chewed until carried down the esophagus by the " swallow- 

 ing impulse " ; and, final normal, in which ordinary mastication was practiced. 

 A nitrogen-free diet was fed through a 4-day period at the close of the experi- 

 ment proper. The results may be briefly summarized as follows : 



" The output of fecal nitrogen was highest during the food bolting ; that 

 during Fletcherism was lowest. Protein utilization was most complete as the 

 result of Fletcherism, and least complete when bolting was practiced. The 

 discrepancies, however, averaged only 1.6 per cent. Utilization during Fletch- 

 erism averaged 0.17 per cent higher than during normal mastication. 



" During food bolting macroscopic meat residues appeared in every stool. 

 In a single stool the amount was 16.5 gm. 



" The fineness of the protein may determine the amount of its hydrolytic 

 cleavage. This fact was shown by the higher nitrogen content of the urine in 

 the Fletcherizing period and the lowered output during bolting." 



The authors mention that " the fact that pepsin may be absorbed in the 

 stomach by particles of undigested food and carried into the small intestines 

 to aid further in protein hydrolysis may have an important bearing on the 

 question of the digestion of bolted meat." 



The conclusion is drawn that " the results of this investigation fail to dem- 

 onstrate the advantages of Fletcherism or the harmfulness of food bolting. , . . 

 Fletcherism of starchy foods should be encouraged to insure the salivary di- 

 gestion of a large quantity of material." 



The circulation of the blood in man at high altitudes. — II, The rate of 

 blood flow and the influence of oxygen on the pulse rate and blood flow, E. C. 

 Schneider and D. L. Sisco (Amer. Jour. Physiol., 34 {1914), No. 1, pp. 29-47). — 

 From observations of pulse rate and blood pressures of six subjects at high 

 altitudes the following conclusions are drawn, in part: The pulse rate does 

 not accelerate immediately on arrival at an altitude of 14.109 ft., but requires 

 several days to reach its maximum. In the majority of healthy men the arterial 

 pressures are unchanged. In five out of six subjects on Pikes Peak the venous 

 pressure was lowered from 25 to 87 per cent. In consequence of these changes 



