FOODS HUMAN NUTRITION. 571 



opinion tliat the better physical condition of the hill people is due to their more 

 generous diet and the more abundant protein it supplies. 



As regards the suggestions which have been advanced that the condition of 

 the Bengali may be due to something besides diet, the author states that while 

 admitting the probable force of some of them, he has largely eliminated such 

 factors by contrasting the Bengali with individuals, tribes, or races in which 

 all these factors were identical except that the diet was more generous, par- 

 ticularly with respect to protein. 



In general, the author concludes that one of the most interesting questions 

 which arises in connection with his work is the relationship of the degree of 

 nitrogen metabolism to physical development and the general characteristics 

 of a people or a race, and he believes that his investigation has brought for- 

 ward a good deal of evidence " to show that an intimate connection does exist, 

 and that diet is a powerful factor in determining the position of a tribe or 

 race in the scale of mankind." 



Eood of the working men in Belg'ium, E. Waxweilee {Bui. Inst. Internat. 

 Statis. [The Hague], 18 {1910), No. 2, pp. J,62-Jt73) .—The results of the study 

 carried on by the Solvay Institute of the food of more than a thousand 

 working men of various trades in different regions in Belgium (E. S. R., 19, 

 p. 562) are summarized and discussed. On the basis of the data presented the 

 author recommends an increased use of meat in the dietary, particularly iu 

 the case of those whose work requires mental effort. 



Hearings held before the Select Cominittee of the Senate relative to wages 

 and prices of commodities {Washington: U. S. Senate Select Committee, 1910, 

 vol. 1, pp. 65S; 2, pp. III+659-875). — A full report is given of the investiga- 

 tions carried on by the Senate committee appointed at the Sixty-first Congress, 

 second session, to investigate the question of wages and prices of commodities. 



Topical digest of evidence submitted in hearings held before the Select 

 Committee of the Senate relative to wages and prices of commodities ( Wash- 

 ington: U. S. Senate Select Committee, 1910, pp. XCV). — This is a topical 

 digest of the data presented in the above-mentioned reports. 



Radiographic studies of the relation between the period of activity of the 

 normal stomach and the sensation of hunger, M. Haudek and K. Stigleb 

 {Pfliigev's Arch. Physiol., 133 [IVIO), No. 1-3, pp. 145-160, figs. 3).— From the 

 investigations reported the authors conclude that at least with healthy per- 

 sons in middle life the period of digestive activity in the stomach is shorter 

 when the sensation of hunger accompanies the taking of food than when this 

 is not the case. 



Studies on water drinking. — III, On the uric acid elimination following 

 copious water drinking between meals, S. A. Rulon, Jr., and P. B. Hawk 

 {Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 32 {1910), No. 12, pp. 1686-1691) .—Contimuns the 

 investigation previously noted (E. S. R., 23, p. 371), experiments were made 

 with 2 young men. 



In one case copious water drinking caused no change in the uric acid output, 

 whereas a pronounced decrease in this excretion was observed with the other 

 subject. This appai-ent decrease in the elimination of uric acid the authors 

 attribute to the fact that the analytical method followed did not give high 

 enough results owing to the extremely low density of the urine. " This inter- 

 pretation has been substantiated by tests made in another connection. 



" Upon those days when the urine for the 24-hour interval was collected in 



r> subperiods, there was apparently no relation between the urine volume for 



the subperiod and the uric acid content. There was likewise no uniformity in 



the daily course of the uric acid excretion, the maximum output occurring on 



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