172 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol. 41 



fat-soluble A when it replaces It in the diet, and that rats subsisting on a diet 

 containing the antiscorbutic as well as the water-soluble and fat-soluble fac- 

 tors grow better than rats on a diet from which the antiscorbutic factor is ab- 

 sent. 



The authors confirm the observation of McCollum and coworkers (E. S. R., 

 38, p. 568) and of Drummond (E. S. R., 38, p. 503) that by depriving rats of 

 th^e antineuritic factor a dietetic deficiency is brought about, as a result of 

 which neuritic lesions are pi'oduced in the animal resulting fatally if the diet 

 is not rectified in time. 



The influence of internal secretions on the formation of bile, A. W. Downs 

 and N. B. Eddy (Amer. Jour. Phi/sioL, 48 {1919), Xo. 2, pp. 79^-i98).— Evidence 

 is given from the use of dogs and cats as experimental animals that the amount 

 of bile secreted is increased by secretin, decreased by adrenalin and by mam- 

 mary, orchic, ovarian, pancreatic, and thymic gland substances, and is not 

 affected in a constant or definite manner by the substances of the spleen and 

 thyroid gland. 



Observations on the catalytic power of blood and solid tissue, F. C. Becht 

 (Amer. Jour. Physiol, 48 (1919), No. 2, pp. 171-191, fig. i).— The author reports 

 the results of investigations of the catalase content of blood and tissues under 

 different conditions by the use of a method which in the case of blood is 

 said to give i-esults accurate to within 5 per cent in most cases. Accurate 

 results could not be obtained in the case of solid tissues, the error being from 

 5 to 20 per cent. 



The catalytic power of the blood was found to vary from 100 to 1,000 per 

 cent in animals of the same species under the same conditions and to vary 

 widely in the blood of animals of different species. The activity was con- 

 fined to the corpuscle, and was not influenced by the oxygen-carrying power of 

 the blood. Thyroid feeding, contrary to the findings of Burge et al. (E. S. R., 

 38, p. 870), decreased instead of increased the catalytic power of the blood. 

 There was a slight increase in the catalytic activity of the blood during ether 

 anesthesia, which is also contrary to the results of Burge. 



The author concludes that since the catalytic power of the blood varies be- 

 tween such enormously wide limits " we do not believe that the catalases can 

 be particularly important, and hence do not believe that a study of catalases 

 can possibly explain the mysteries of the proces.ses of oxidation." 



Method of estimating* energy expenditure by indirect calorimetry, B. P. 

 Cathcakt (Jour. Roy. Army Med. Corps, 31 (1918), No. 5, pp. 339-352, figs. 4).— 

 This article includes a theoretical discussion of the principles underlying in- 

 direct calorimetry and a detailed description of the procedure involved in the 

 Douglas bag method of estimating energy expenditure by indirect calorimetry. 

 Diagrams are given of the Douglas bag and of the Haldane apparatus for 

 analyzing the sample of air. 



ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 



The endocrine organs. — An introduction to the study of internal secretion, 

 E. A.. ScHAFEK (London and New York: Longmans, Green ct Co.. 1916, pp. 

 IX +156, figs. 104). — This monograph is designed for those who require a some- 

 what more elaborate treatment of the ductless glands than is afforded by 

 the ordinary text-book of physiology. The thyroids and parathyroids, adrenal 

 capsules, and the pituitary body are dealt with in some detail, while the 

 thymus, the pineal gland, the mucous membrane of the duodenum, the pancreas, 



