1919] FOODS HUMAN NUTRITION. 365 



It is pointed out that the results are for the most part in keeping with tlie 

 idea that rickets is a disease primarily due to a deficiency of fat-soluble A, 

 and that substances containing and associated with fat-soluble A appear to be 

 particularly concerned in the calcification processes of bones and teeth. 



An experimental investigation on rickets, E. IMeixanby {Lancet [London], 

 J919, I, No. 11, pp. 407-412). — The first of two lectures on rickets delivered at 

 the Royal College of Surgeons of England reports in detail the results of the 

 investigations noted above. 



The second lecture consists of a general discussion of rickets as a deficiency 

 disease. Three difficulties in considering the antirachitic factor and fat- 

 soluble A as identical are the relation of rapidity of growth to the develop- 

 ment of rickets, the action of meat and meat extracts, and the different effects 

 of vegetable oils. The fact that large and rapidly growing puppies require 

 more of the antirachitic factor is thought not to be out of keeping with the 

 supposition that fat-soluble A and the antirachitic factor are identical if it is 

 considered that the function of fat-soluble A in the diet is not so much to 

 insure growth as to promote correct growth, in which case the greater the 

 amount of growth in any period the greater will be the amount of fat-soluble A 

 necessary to keep it along normal lines. The favorable effect of meat and meat 

 extracts is thought to be due to their specific dynamic or stimulating action. 

 The varying effects of vegetable oils, which have hitherto been considered to be 

 quite lacking in fat-soluble A, may be explained on the supposition that 

 previous work involving the growth of rats has not furnished a sufficiently 

 delicate test for fat-soluble A. The author is of the opinion that the anti- 

 rachitic factor and fat-soluble A are identical, or at least that the distribution 

 of the two substances is remarkably similar. Some earlier hypotheses as to 

 the etiology of the disease are cited in confirmation of this theory. 



In conclusion, the author states that the diet of an infant should include a 

 maximum amount of the antirachitic factor. He points out in this connection 

 that care should be taken not to include too much of foodstuffs such as bread, 

 vegetable oils, proprietary articles, etc., which are lacking in the antirachitic 

 factor, as the more of such foodstuffs is eaten the greater is the necessity for 

 foods containing this factor. While emphasizing the importance of milk as an 

 antirachitic factor, attention is called to the probability that the cow fed in 

 the stall largely on vegetable oil cake will give a milk deficient in accessory 

 food factors and that if a nursing mother's diet is deficient in the antirachitic 

 factor the breast-fed child may develop rickets. 



The cause and prevention of scurvy {London: Food {War) Committee, Roy. 

 Soc, 1918, pp. 2). — This is a summary of conclusions, drawn chiefly from in- 

 ^■estigations at the Lister Institute which have been previously noted from 

 other sources, as to the cause and prevention of scurvy. It is particularly 

 emphasized that in cooking the destruction of antiscorbutic properties depends 

 rather upon the time than the temperature employed. 



Trench feet a deficiency disease, L. Bruntz and L. Spillman ( Compt. Rend. 

 Soc. Biol. [Paris], 82 {1919), No. 1, pp. 8-10).— The authors attempt to prove 

 that trench feet, a disease characterized by polyneuritis of the extremities, is 

 caused primarily by a lack of vitamin in the diet, the conditions of trench life 

 serving to accentuate the primary neuritic condition. 



Note on the influence of the rate of cooling on metabolism, L. Hill {Lon- 

 don: Food {War) Committee, Roy. Soc., 1918, pp. 5, figs. 2).— The author main- 

 tains that in most calorimeter experiments sufficient attention has not been 

 given to the cooling power of moving air, and presents data from various 

 sources illustrating the effect of wind upon metabolism. Data are given show- 

 ing an increase of from 37 to 65 calories per square meter of surface in the 



