168 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol. 41 



lu applying the foregoing results to metliods of cooking vegetables, the author 

 points out that slow cooking at a low temperature is much more deleterious 

 than more rapid cooking at a high one, and that, consequently, as far as anti- 

 scorbutic value is concerned, the longer time needed in a tireless cooker is a 

 great disadvantage in the case of green vegetables, such as cabbage. Evidence 

 is also given that vegetables should be steamed rather than boiled in water, 

 and if boiled should be boiled in water only, the addition of either acid or 

 alkali to the water increasing the loss of antiscorbutic vitamins. 



In experiments in which larger rations of cabbage were given heated to tem- 

 peratures from 100 to 130° for periods of one to two hours, the destruction of 

 antiscorbutic properties, though extensive, was less complete than was to be 

 expected from the results at lower temperatures. A suggested explanation of 

 this discrepancy is that the antiscorbutic value of a diet may be enhanced and 

 may show greater heat stability when the antiscorbutic factor and the growth 

 fat-soluble factor are derived from the same foodstuff. The greater heat sta- 

 bility of the fat-soluble factor is also shown from the fact that heating for one 

 to two hours at temperatures from 100 to 120° produced only a slight effect. 



The article concludes with an appendix, by F. M. Tozer on the histological 

 diagnosis of experimental scurvy, with diagi'ammatic drawings made from his- 

 tological preparations of the rib jimctions of animals used in the experiments 

 described and which demonstrate the more important histological changes ob- 

 served in animals suffering from scurvy in varying degrees. The diagnosis 

 made from the histological preparation independently of the diagnosis of the 

 condition seen during the life of the animal or in post-mortem examination, in 

 most cases tallied closely with the latter. 



The antiscorbutic value of cabbage. — II, The effect of drying' on the anti- 

 scorbutic and growth-promoting' properties of cabbage, E. M. Delf and R. F. 

 Skelton {Biochem. Jour., 12 (1918), No. 4, pp. 448-463, figs. 2). — Prom feeding 

 experiments similar to those noted above, it was found that there was a loss in 

 antiscorbutic properties of more than 93 per cent when cabbage was dried at a 

 low temperature (60° C.) and stored sub.sequently for two to three weeks at 

 laboratory temperatui'es. This loss increased with prolonged storage until at 

 the end of three months nearly all the protective value of the fresh material 

 was lost. By plunging the cabbage into boiling water before drying, the residual 

 amount of antiscorbutic factor was distinctly greater, indicating that killing 

 the cells by heat before drying is beneficial in lessening the amount of destruc- 

 tion taking place during drying. 



In the drying and storing of the cabbage there was also found to be a decided 

 destruction of the fat-soluble growth-promoting factor, which was estimated at 

 86 per cent after only two weeks' storage. 



The results in general are thought to agree with those of- Hoist and Frolich 

 (E. S. R., 27, p. 567), and of Givens and Cohen (E. S. R., 40, p. 172). 



Utilization of Burma beans for human nutrition, Rothea (Ann. Falsif., 11 

 (1918), No. 121-122, pp. 361-369). — Determinations of the hydrocyanic acid con- 

 tent of Burma beans and of the water in which they have been soaked and 

 cooked are reported, which indicate that in the processes of soaking and boiling 

 usually employed about seven-eighths of the hydrocyanic acid is removed. 



The author concludes that Burma beans, even those containing 0.03 per cent 

 of hydrocyanic acid, can be consumed by adults without danger, provided the 

 beans have been soaked in a large volume of water from 12 to 24 hours and 

 boiled for 3 hours in a fresh quantity of water. In no case should the water in 

 Avhich soaking and boiling have taken place be used. The use of these beans in 

 hospitals and for making bean broth for infants is considered inadvisable. 



