1920] FOODS — HUMAN NUTRITION'. 865 



jrenorally pollauTous prior to capture, and that cases developing subsequent to 

 capture were not caused liy infection from case to case or hy any other local 

 or general conditions with the exception of the diet. No evidence as to the 

 etiology of tlie disease was found in relation to bacteria, protozoa, blood condi- 

 tions, or pathologj'. 



With regard to the diet before and after capture, a low biological value of the 

 protein, either absolute or relative, was considered to be an exciting and pos- 

 sibly the determining factor in the etiology of the disease. An examination 

 of the dietaries of the pi'isoners before and subsequent to capture indicated 

 that in all cases of pellagra the biological value of the protein of the diet had 

 been less than 40 gm., although the diet was adequate in all other respects. By 

 increasing the biological value of the protein in the diet it was possible to arrest 

 the manifestations of pellagra in their early stages. In this connection it is 

 emphasized that a diet in which the biological value of the protein is adequate 

 under normal conditions may be rendered inadequate by defective digestion 

 and assimilation, frequently noted in cases of pellagra. 



The appendixes containing the detailed reports of the collaborators in the 

 investigation are as follows : The clinical aspect of the illness among Turkish 

 prisoners of war, by F. D. Boyd ; biochemical investigations in regard to pel- 

 lagra, by H. E. Roaf ; pathological section, by A. R. Ferguson and W. Campbell; 

 bacteriological and hematological investigations on pellagrous prisoners of war, 

 by R. Paton ; protozoological and other parasitological investigations on pellagra, 

 by H. M. Woodcock; statistical data, by P. S. Lelean ; dietetic report, with an 

 analysis of food materials, a comparison of ration scales, and the results of 

 metabolism experiments undertaken to determine the degree of absorption of 

 food, by W. H. Wilson, P. S. Lelean, and H. E. Roaf; notes on the relation of 

 the biological value of protein to some established facts regarding the epidemi- 

 ology of pellagra, by W. H. Wilson, P, S. Lelean, and H. E. Roaf; and water 

 constituents, by P. S. Lelean. 



The influence of an alcoholic extract of the thyroid gland upon poly- 

 neuritic pigeons and the metamorphosis of tadpoles, E. C. Seaman (Amer. 

 Jour. Physiol., 53 (1920), No. 1, pp. 101-108, figs. 7). — An acid alcoholic extract 

 of fresh thyroid glands was found to have marked curative action on poly- 

 neuritic pigeons, thus indicating the presence of the antineuritic vitamin. The 

 same extract had a marked accelerating action on the metamorphosis of tad- 

 poles. That the results in both cases were not due to iodin alone was demon- 

 strated by the fact that a thyroid residue, consisting of the noncoagulable por- 

 tion of a slightly alkaline extract of the glands after the nucleoproteins had been 

 removed and containing the same amount of iodin as the extract, possessed no 

 curative action for polyneuritic pigeons nor accelerating effect on the growth of 

 tadpoles. 



Botulism from canned beets, W. G. Randeh^ {Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc, 15 

 (1920), No. 1, pp. 33-35). — An outbreak of botulism with five fatalities is re- 

 ported from Florence, Ariz. The outbreak was traced to commercially canned 

 beets in tin containers. The beets, which are said to have had no offensive 

 odor, were .served without reheating. Administration of botulinus antitoxin 

 (polyvalent) four days after the onset of the illness was without effect in the 

 two cases in which it was tried. 



Botulism from canned ripe olives, H. W. Emerson and G. W. Collins 

 (Jour. Lab. and Clin. Med., 5 (1920), No. 9, pp. 559-565, figs. 8).— This is the 

 report of the bacteriological investigation of the olives involved in the Detroit 

 outbreak of botulism previously described by .Tennlngs et al. (E. S. R., 42, p. 

 262). The toxin-antitoxin experiments indicated that the botulinus bacillus 

 isolated from these olives was of the Boise tyi)e or type A. 



