166 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOED. 



[The cost of living in Australia], G. H. Knibbs {Commonwealth Bur. Cen- 

 sus and Statis, Aust., Labor and Indus. Branch Rpt. 5 {1914), PP- 16-67, 100^ 

 131). — ^A summary and digest of data regarding income and cost of living 

 during the years 1913 and 1914. Information is given regarding the wholesale 

 and retail prices of food and clothing and the cost of rent as compared with 

 other years and other countries. 



Cost of living in Australia, G. H. Knibbs {Commonwealth Bur. Census and 

 Statis. Aust., Labor and Indus. Branch Rpt. 4 {1914) > PP- 36). — ^A study of the 

 budgets of 392 different families, which includes information regarding family 

 conditions, the relation of income to expenditure, and the distribution of the 

 expenditure. 



Feeding the masses, H. Keanold {Massenerndhrung Agrarpolitih Kolonisa- 

 tion. Munich: Oeorge C. Steinicke, 1914, pp. '95). — A treatise upon some of the 

 economic problems involved in feeding the iX)orer classes. Statistical data ai'e 

 also included. 



Influence of protein consumption on muscular work, G. C. Testa and G. 

 SoRMANi {Atti. Soc. Lombarda Sci. Med. e Biol., 1 {1912), No. 3, pp. 363-380, 

 figs. 5; abs. in Zentbl. Biochem. u. Biophys., 16 {1914), No. 7-8, p. 253). — Ex- 

 perimental study, bj^ means of an ergograph, of the work performed by the 

 gastrocnemius muscle of frogs indicated that the work varied within narrow 

 limits but was considerably increased by the consumption of nucleoproteins. 



Studies of the origin of cholesterin, S. Dezani and F. Cattoretti {Arch. 

 Farmacol. 8per. e Sci. Aff., 19 {1915), No. 1, pp. 1-9). — Experiments carried out 

 with laboratory animals (rats) indicate that the animal organism possesses 

 the ability to synthetize cholesterin when this substance is excluded from 

 the diet. 



Absorption of fat and lipoids, E. S. London and M. A. Wersilowa {St. 

 Pctersb. Med. Wchnschr., 37 {1912), No. 22, pp. 325-327; abs. in Zentbl. Biochem. 

 ti. Biophys., 14 {1913), No. 15-16, p. 561). — In experiments performed on dogs 

 with bilocular fistula below the pancreatic duct or with unilocular fistula in 

 the middle of the small intestine, palmitic acid was 22 per cent absorbed before 

 reaching the distal fistula, though only 7 per cent was absorbed when intro- 

 duced directly into the intestine instead of per os. Stearic acid was more com- 

 pletely absorbed; in the upper half of the intestine stearin soap was more 

 readily absorbed than fatty acid. The feeding of neutral fat or free fatty 

 acid produced no appreciable change in the fatty acid content of the intestinal 

 mucosa. Neither cleavage nor absorption of cholesterol occurred up to the 

 end of the small intestine. 



Further observations on the physiological properties of the lipins of the 

 egg yolk, E. V. McCollum and Marguerite Davis {Proc. Soc. Expt. Biol, and 

 Med., 11 {1914), No. 3, pp. 101, 102).— The addition of small amounts of the 

 ether or petroleum ether extract of cooked egg yolk to a diet of casein, dextrin, 

 and inorganic salts brought about a resumption of growth in the case of labora- 

 tory animals (rats) which had ceased to grow on the diet of casein, dextrin, and 

 inorganic salts. 



Lecithids contained in cod liver oil, H. Iscovesco {Compt. Rend. Soc. Biol. 

 [Paris], 76 {1914), No. 1, pp. 34, 35).— Experiments with laboratory animals 

 indicated that repeated doses of olive oil and cod liver oil administered hypo- 

 dermically in the neck muscles were utilized and caused an increase in weight. 

 Cod liver oil seemed to be better tolerated than olive oil. The author attributes 

 the peculiar properties of cod liver oil to the lecithids it contains. All of the 

 phosphorus, as well as most of the nitrogen compounds in the oil, are said to 

 belong to the group of lecithids and lecithalbumins. 



