1919] FOODS HUMAN NUTRITION. 363 



1919, pp. 19, figs. 3). — This report of the Food (War) Committee of the Royal 

 Society is a summary of modern conceptions of tlie food requirements of man 

 under different conditions. 



The quantity of fat-soluble vitamins in coconut oil, B, 0. P. Jansen 

 {Meded. Genecsk. Lah. WeUcvredcn [Dutch East I)idics],' 3. Scr. A, pt. 1-2 

 (WIS), pp. 78-9Jf, pi. 1). — A study of the fat-soluble vitamin content of coconut 

 oil was made by means of growth experiments with wild house rats, fed upon 

 a basal diet of polished rice and the water-soluble extract from rice bran, with 

 tlie addition of equivalent amounts, respectively, of cold-pressed coconut oil, 

 olive oil, and ether extract of egg yolk. While growth was satisfactory on the 

 diet containing the ether extract of egg yolk, addition of olive or coconut oil 

 had no growth-promoting influence, indicating that coconut oil, like olive oil, is 

 lacking in the fat-soluble vitamin. 



The author points out a possible connection between the small stature of 

 the natives of the Dutch Indies and the use during so many generations of a 

 diet poor in vitamins. 



A study of the physiology of endogenous uric acid, H. F. Host {Jovr. Biol. 

 Chem., 38 (1919), No. 1, pp. 17-31, figs. ^).— This report deals with the determi- 

 nation of uric acid in the urine and blood in 17 subjects, 2 of whom were normal 

 while the remainder were convalescents and patients who had never had symp- 

 toms of gout. The nitrogen output was determined in all cases and the H-ion 

 concentration in four. The experiments are reported in detail for the two 

 normal subjects only, but conclusions are drawn on the basis of the results 

 obtained with all subjects. 



In none of the 17 subjects was the uric acid output for 24 hours constant. 

 With a fixed diet and imder similar conditions the output was in most cases 

 extremely irregular, showing daily variations up to 80 per cent. Even in 

 individuals whose output of uric acid was most regular the output was found 

 to be dependent on several factors, of which variations in the diet were the most 

 important. Beyond a certain minimum a change in the caloric value of the food 

 produced a change in tlie same direction in the uric acid output, the change, 

 however, being greater when the amount of calories was varied by means of pro- 

 tein than by nitrogen-free foods. With a constant caloric value, the uric acid 

 output depended to a certain extent on the food protein. The excretion of 

 nitrogen and the H-ion concentration of the urine* were without influence, but 

 an increase of body temperature was accompanied by a considerable increase 

 in the uric acid output. 



The endogenous uric acid output in 24 hours varied between 0.27 and 0.99 

 gm. The endogenous uric acid in the blood varied from less than 0.5 to 2.68 gm. 

 per 100 cc. of blood, but was in the case of each individual constant within the 

 limits of error of the method (10 per cent). 



The author states that definite conclusions regarding synthetic uric acid for- 

 mation can not be drawn from these experiments, but that the results indicate 

 that a not inconsiderable part of the endogenous uric acid comes from metabo- 

 lism in the tissues of the digestive glands. 



Bespiratory metabolism investigations on the question of the formation 

 of sugar from proteins and their degradation products, .T. M. de Cokral 

 (Biochem. Ztschr., 86 (1918), No. 3-4, pp. 176-222; abs. in Chem. Ahs., 12 

 (1918), No. 22, p. 2353). — The liver of a dog was rendered free from glycogen 

 liy the administration of peptone, after which the capacity for glycogen forma- 

 tion from fats and proteins was determined by measurement of the respiratory 

 quotient with the Jaquet apparatus (E. S. R., 16, p. 287). 



The capacity for forming glycogen from carbohydrates after administration 

 of peptone was found to be somewhat diminished but still to exist. On adminis- 



