1020] POODS HUMAN NUTRITION. • 667 



(lisonse and especially of ^astro-intestinal disease. An exeess of fat, in asso- 

 ciation witii deficiency of B-vitamin and protein and superabundance of starch, 

 is peculiarly harmful to the organism. Certain dietetic deficiencies greatly 

 favor the invasion of the blood and tissues by bacteria ; especially is this 

 the case when deliciency of vitamins and protein is associated with an ex- 

 cessive intake of starch." 



IX. On the occurrence of recently developed cancer of the stomach in a 

 monkey fed on food deficient in vitamins (pp. 342-345). — The accidental dis- 

 covery of a recently developed carcinoma of the pylorus in one of the monkeys 

 fed a diet deticient in B-vitamin is reported as indicating the possible influence 

 of vitaminic deficiency on the onset of cancer of the stomach. 



Deficiency diseases in Vienna (Brit. Med. Jour., No. 3092 {1920), pp. 477, 

 478). — This is an editorial discussion of the work of the mission sent to Vienna 

 by tlie Accessoi-y Food Factors Committee, appointed by the Lister Institute 

 and the Medical Research Committee (England) to investigate the prevalence 

 of scurvy, rickets, and other disorders attributable to malnutrition, and to 

 determine the value of nrethods of curing these diseases which have been 

 found effective in animal experimentation. 



The study of an outbreak of infantile scurvy indicated that in the case of 

 bottle-fed infants the repeated heating of the milk was probably the cause of the 

 outbreak, while in breast-fed infants the fault lay in the defective diet of the 

 mothers. Raw swede juice, orange juice, and neutralized lemon juice proved 

 effective antiscorbutics for the bottle-fed infants. To counteract rickets and 

 scurvy in the bottle-fed, the mothers have been provided with a daily ration 

 of 50 gm. of butter and 30 gm. of raw swedes. 



An investigation of the causal factors of osteomalacia has led to the belief 

 that it is caused by a deficiency in the fat-soluble accessory factor. 



The relation of undernutrition to osteoporosis and osteomalacia, Alwens 

 (Milnchen. Med. Wchnschr., 66 (1919), No. 38, pp. 1011-1075, figs. 2).— The 

 author describes in considerable detail 16 cases of illness of the bone system 

 occurring in Frankfort as a result of prolonged undernourishment on a protein-, 

 calcium-, and phosphorus-poor diet. The disease attacked principally women of 

 the middle class in the climacteric and postclimacteric periods, although a few 

 ca.ses Qccurred in young women and men. 



The majority of cases presented a true picture of osteoporosis, while a few 

 were typical cases of osteomalacia. For therapeutic treatment the author recom- 

 mends a liberal diet rich in protein, calcium, and phosphorus supplemented by 

 daily doses of 0.5 mg. of pho.sphorus in cod liver oil. In the case of true 

 osteoporosis strontium lactate is recommended. 



[PeUagra] (Puh. Health Serv. U. S., Hyg. Lab. Bill. 116 (1920), pp. 100).— 

 This bulletin consists of four papers on pellagra, as follows: 



I. The influences of vitamins on the course of pellagra, by C. Voegtlin, M. H. 

 Nelll, and A. Hunter (pp. 7-35). — To determine if possible whether the benefi- 

 cial effects on pellagra of fresh meat, eggs, and milk are due to their content 

 of vitamins, 13 selected cases of pellagra were treated with various vitaminic 

 preparations in connection with a vitamin-deficient diet, approximately that on 

 which the patient contracted the disease. The vitamin preparations consisted 

 of protein-free extracts from liver and thymus glands and from y(>ast and rice 

 poli.shings. The technique of their preparaticm is described in detail. The livev 

 and thymus extracts, while containing a greater variety of accessory substances 

 than did the extracts from yeast and rice polishings, were poorer in antineuritic 

 substances as shown by their relative efficacy in the pi'eveution and cure of 

 avian polyneuritis. 



