150 



Quality of Protein in Nutrition 



[April 8, 



quantity required to maintain a man without loss of nitrogen and 

 body weight. They were : — 



Ox meat ... 

 Cow's milk 

 Fish 

 Casein 

 Rice 

 Potato 

 Peas 



Wheat flour 

 Maize meal 



104 

 100 

 95 

 70 

 88 

 79 

 56 

 40 

 30 



The biological value of meat is therefore three times that of maize. 



AVilson calculated that the diet as given to the refugees was equal 

 to 22 gm. of casein. On improvement to a casein equivalent of 

 41 gm. no more cases of pellagra occurred. 



Chick and Hume (1920) succeeded in producing in three monkeys 

 symptoms very like those of human pellagra. The diet was very 

 carefully selected, and was deficient only in respect that it contained 

 no animal protein. One monkey refused the food after a short time ; 

 he lost weight, and showed signs of incipient pellagra. The second 

 monkey also lost weight, but the loss was lessened by adding trypto- 

 phan ; but other amino acids lacking in maize had no appreciable 

 effect. This monkey had signs of pellagra, and was cured by giving 

 a normal diet. The third monkey had its loss of weight arrested by 

 including tryptophan and hexone bases. This monkey showed some 

 of the characteristic symptoms of pellagra, such as the symmetrical 

 bilateral rash. 



It appears thus that pellagra is caused by a continuous shortage 

 in the supply of certain amino acids in the food. A diet containing 

 animal protein in small quantities will supply the needful amino 

 acids; a large supply of vegetable protein may not contain the needful 

 amino acids. 



[E. H. A. P.] 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, April 15, 1921. 



Colonel E. H. Grove-Hills, C.M.G. D.Sc. F.R.S., 

 Secretary and Vice-President, in the Chair. 



Ernest Law, C.B. 

 Wolsey as War Minister. 



[No Abstract.] 



