492 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



browned at the eii«l of the ])r()cess tlie outside beeaiiie toiiirh and seemed to have the 

 charaeteristies of over-cooked albumen emphasized." 



The effect of basting was studied, and in tiie oi)inion of the autliors the only 

 definite conckision which can be drawn rejrarding the differences between the basted 

 and the unbasted meat was that when cooked under otherwise identical conditions 

 the former was always the rarer. Evidently the temperature of the roast was low- 

 ered by basting it. 



Summarizing the results of 21 tests, the total meat l)efore roasting weighed 62 lbs. 

 and after cooking 52.25 lbs., the loss being about one-sixth of the original weight. 

 The average cost of the cooked meat was 19.2 cts. per pound, "an increase of 4 cts. a 

 pound over the original cost." The possibility of using drippings, the loss of weight 

 in l)oning, and some other problems were also considered. 



Relative merit of butter or oil in cookery {Dietet. and Hyg. Gaz., 19 {1903), 

 No. 5, p. 303). — A brief note quoting exijeriments with animals by P. Carnot and 

 Miss Deflandre, in which the digestibility of fat is shown by the action of osmic acid 

 on sections of liver substance. The quantity of fat thus obtained was greater after 

 the ingestion of Iratter than after cod-liver oil or neat's-foot oil. ^'egetable oils, 

 such as olive oil, were not found to be as well assimilated by the liver as animal oils. 

 On the basis of these experiments the superiority of animal to vegetable oils for cul- 

 inary i)uri)oses is pointed out. 



Further investigations among fruitarians at the California Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, 1901-1902, M. E. Jaffa ( U. S. Dcpt. Agr., Office of Experi- 

 ment Stations Bui. 13 J, pp. SI). — Continuing earlier work (E. S. R., 13, p. 974), 9 

 dietary studies and 31 digestion experiments with subjects on a more or less strictly 

 fruitarian diet were carried on at the University of California. Some of the subjects 

 had for years confined their diet to vegetables and fruits; others were used to the 

 ordinary fare. 



While part of the dietaries make it plain that it is i)ossible to obtain the requisite 

 amount of ]>rotein and energy from a fruitarian diet, the majority of those studied 

 fell l)elow the tentative dietary standards, but, as the author notes, it is not just to 

 ascribe this to the form of diet, since the same people might have consumed no 

 larger quantities of nutrients on a mixed diet. In several cases small quantities of 

 cereals and other common foods were eaten to render the rather unusual food com- 

 binations more palatable. The dietaries which contained cereals furnished more 

 protein and energy in most cases than those which were limited strictly to fruits and 

 nuts. The cost of the food per person per day ranged from 18 to 46 cts. 



Considering the digestion experiments as a whole, the fruit and nut diets had the 

 following coefficients of digestibility: Total organic matter 90.26 per cent, protein 

 75.30 per cent, fat 86.43 per cent, nitrogen-free extract 95.10 per cent, crude fiber 

 78.54 per cent, and ash 54.76 per cent, the available energy being 86.13 per cent. 



"As shown by their composition and digestibility, both fruit and nuts can be 

 favorably compared with other and more common foods. As sources of carbohy- 

 drates, fruits at ordinary prices are not expensive, and as sources of protein and fat, 

 nuts at usual prices are reasonable. 



"In the present investigations the question of the wholesomeness of a long- 

 continued diet of fruit and nuts is not taken up. The agreement of one food or 

 another with any person is frecjuently more or less a matter of personal idiosyncrasy, 

 but it seems fair to say that those with whom nuts and fruits agree can, if they desire, 

 readily secure a considerable part oi their nutritive material from such sources." 



Concerning the diet in public institutions, E. 0. Hultgren {Versamml. Nord. 

 Naiurf. V. Aerzt., Vcrhandl. SeL Anat., Physiol, u. Med. Chem., 1902, pp. 77-8.5).— 

 Studies of the diet in a number of hospitals in Stockholm are briefly reported. 



Notes on the feeding of troops, Varges [Dent. Mil. Aerztl. Ztschr., 1902, No. 5, 

 p. 251; ahs. in Hyg. Rundschau, 13 {1903), No. 15, pp. 785, 786).— A tablet composed 



