1174 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



FOODS— HUMAN NUTRITION. 



Food and diet in health and disease, II. F. Williams (Philadelphia and New 

 York: Lea Bros. & Co., 1906, pp. X - 392, fig. 1). — This volume, which is designed as 

 a text-book for students, has two main divisions, the first treating of food in health 

 and the second of food in disease. 



Available data are summarized regarding the chemistry of foods, the physiology of 

 digestion, the changes brought about by cookery, the characteristics of different fond 

 groups, feeding in infancy and old age, as well as special diets suited to different 

 diseases, preparation of foods for invalids, and related questions, the volume as a 

 whole constituting a concise summary of the subject of nutrition from the physician's 

 standpoint. 



In his introduction the author states that the first half of the volume, which deals 

 with nutrition and food in health, is largely based on the results of the nutrition 

 investigations which have been carried on under the auspices of the Office of Experi- 

 ment Stations. 



A new method of indicating- food values, I. Fisher (Amer. Jour. Physiol., 15 

 (1906), No. 5, pp. 417-432, figs. 23). — A system of expressing the nutritive value of 

 food is described in which a quantity yielding 100 calories is selected as the basis for 

 comparison. The author believes that this gives a better idea of the relative nutritive 

 value of different foods than the usual method of expressing percentage composition. 



A method is described in which a right-angled triangle is divided in such a w r ay 

 that composition is expressed graphically. The author has devised an instrument 

 by which the nutritive value of a food or diet may be estimated according to his 

 system. 



An inquiry into the extent of underfeeding- among-st the school children 

 of Blackburn, A. Greenwood (Blackburn, Eng.: Times Printing Works, 1905, 

 pp. 76). — From a careful study of the existing conditions it is stated that probably 

 not more than 1.3 per cent of the Blackburn school children are underfed. The 

 author believes that "considerable waste occurs in many homes through a lack of 

 knowledge as to cheap nutritious articles of diet and economical cooking. ... It is 

 important that the elder girl scholars should be taught the preparation and cooking 

 of such meals as are available in a workingman's home." 



The function of cellulose in the diet of man, I, H. Lohrisch (Ztschr. Physiol. 

 Chem., 47 (1906), No. 2-3, pp. 200-252).— A large amount of experimental data is 

 reported on the digestibility of cellulose supplied by a number of common food 

 materials. 



The results obtained showed that with normal digestive apparatus cellulose is more 

 or less well digested, and indeed under some circumstances is thoroughly digested, 

 the thoroughness of digestion being indirectly proportional to its hardness. On an 

 average the normal subjects studied by the author digested 57.9 per cent of the cellu- 

 lose, patients suffering from chronic constipation 81.4 per cent, and those suffering 

 from other diseases amounts to considerably less than normal. 



The question of cellulose digestion, the author believes, will not be understood 

 until the ferments inducing it, at present unknown, are identified and studied. The 

 article contains a review of earlier investigations and a bibliography. 



The influence of the dietary on the constituents of the urine, A. Desgrez 

 and J. Ayrignac (Compt. Rend. Soc. Biol. [Paris'], 60 (1906), No. 13, pp. 616-618).— 

 The proportion of different constituents of the urine and their relation to each other 

 was studied on an absolute and mixed milk diet, milk and egg diet, vegetarian diet, 

 and mixed diets containing large and small amounts of meat. 



The ratio of nitrogen of urea and total nitrogen reached its minimum in the vege- 

 tarian diet and its maximum in the absolute milk diet, The ratio of uric acid to 

 urea was greatest on a vegetarian diet and least on a mixed diet containing large 



