352 



Mary Davies Swartz, 



The coefficients of digestibility of the galactan preparations are given 

 in the following table: 



Although these preparations were administered in small quanti- 

 ties, under the most favorable conditions for digestion in, the only 

 instance where the utilization in any degree approaches that of starch 

 (Limu Huna), the quantity fed (7 grams) was so small that this exper- 

 iment can hardly be taken as a criterion of digestibility. Exclusive 

 of this experiment, the average of five trials with dogs is 32 per cent, 

 while that of sLx trials with human subjects is 23 per cent. In both 

 cases, the-averages are lower than that of Lohrisch (194) for "soluble 

 agar," 50 per cent. 



Where the quantity of galactan fed was 10 or more grams, the in- 

 fluence on the character of the faeces was usually noticeable. The 

 increase in bulk, after ingestion of 45 grams of Irish moss, is well illus- 

 trated in a photograph of the dried and ground faeces of the dogs 

 used in experiments 1 and 2:^ 



A represents the fore-period (3 days), B the mid-period, during which 

 15 grams of moss were ingested daily (3 days), and C the after-period 

 (3 days). The separation of the faeces at the beginning of experi- 

 ment 1 (on the right) was not very satisfactory. The dog had pre- 

 viously been fed bone-ash, and the marked faeces were undoubtedly 

 contaminated with this, so that they appear unusually bulky. Exper- 

 iment 2 is typical of the results obtained in most of the experiments 



' Cf. p. 343. 



