168 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



Mixed diet and metabolism {Med. Rec. [N. Y.], 84 (1913), No. 17, pp. 759, 

 700). — This is a brief discussion of the physiological necessity of a varied diet 

 ns regards both a sufficient supply of all the nutrients and a variety of food 

 material. The relations of a too simple diet to such diseases as diabetes and 

 irregular gout and to anaphylaxis as shown by anemia, malnutrition, asthenia, 

 etc., are also indicated. 



The mineral content of the daily diet, Hornemann (Ztschr. Hyg. u. Infek- 

 iionskrank., 75 {1913), No. 3, pp. 553-568). — The author found in studies with 

 adult men that the amounts of calcium and iron oxids in a daily diet supply- 

 ing 557 gm. dry matter were respectively 1.72 gm. and 156 mg. With adult 

 women receiving 396 gm. dry matter, the corresponding values were 0.86 gm. 

 and 91 mg., and with a 6-year-old boy receiving 325 gm. dry matter, 0.67 gm. 

 and 57 mg. He is of the opinion that the amounts of calcium and iron supplied 

 by the diets were sufficient. 



The normal presence of boron in animals, G. Bertrand and H. Agulhon 

 (Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. [Paris], 155 {1912), No. 3, pp. 248-251; abs. in Jour. 

 Chem. Soc. [London], 102 {1912), No. 599, II, pp. 854, 855).— Using a method 

 described in a previous article,** the authors report the presence of small 

 amounts of boron in the organs and tissues of several animals. It is the most 

 easily detected in the hair, horns, bones, liver, and muscles. 



The presence of boron in animals, G. Bertrand and H. Agulhon {Compt. 

 Rend. Acad. Sci. [Paris], 156 {1913), No. 9, pp. 732-735; ahs. in Jour. 

 Chem. Soc. [London], 104 {1913), No. 606, I, pp. 4^3, 424).— In continuation of 

 the work reported in the previous article, the authors report finding boron in 

 27 different species of animals, and conclude that it exists normally in small 

 amounts in the bodies of all animals, being more common in the species of 

 marine origin. 



The presence of boron in milk and eggs, G. Bertrand and H. Agtjlhon 

 {Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. [Paris], 156 {1913), No. 26, pp. 2027-2029; ahs. in 

 Jour. Chem. Soc. [London], 104 {1913), No. 610, I, p. W).— The presence of 

 0.08, 0.1, and 0.2 mg. of boron per liter of human, ass's, and cow's milli, respec- 

 tively, and of 1 mg. per kilogram of dried material from fowl, turkey, and goose 

 eggs is reported. 



The frequent occurrence of this element in animal and vegetable products 

 leads the authors to ask the question whether boron, like iron, may not play 

 an indispensable part, possibly catalytic, in the living cell. 



The metabolism after meat feeding* of dogs in which pancreatic external 

 secretion was absent, F. G. Benedict and J. H. Pratt {Jour. Biol. Chem., 15 

 {1913), No. 1, pp. 1-35). — The increase in the total metabolism of animals and 

 man resulting from the ingestion of food of various kinds has often been ob- 

 served, and, as the authors point out, there have been two distinct theories as 

 to the reason. One assumes that the increase in metabolism is mainly due to 

 the mechanical processes in digestion, and the other that the increase is due to 

 the specific dynamic action of foodstuffs, that is, that portion of the heat pro- 

 duced which appears as free heat and does not benefit the cells. The one attrib- 

 utes the increased metabolism mainly to mechanical causes; the other, to 

 chemical processes. 



Experiments on the metabolism of nitrogen and on carbon dioxid production 

 are reported, the results showing, according to the authors, " that there is no 

 large energy transformation incidental to segmentation, peristalsis, glandular 

 activity of stomach, liver, and intestine, and the movement of the unabsorbed 

 food through the intestinal tract. The attempt to explain the increased metabo- 



«Ann. Chim. Analyt, 15 (1910), No. 2, pp. 45-53; Bui. Soc. Chim. France, 4. sen, 7 

 (1910), pp. 90-99. 



