io6 



NATURE 



[June 20, 19 18 



den and Lusk; United Kingdom, Profs. E. H. Starling 

 and T. B. Wood. The conclusions agreed upon by 

 the Commission are summarised in the following 

 paragraphs : — 



(i) The Commission has decided to state the weights 

 of the various foods produced in each Allied country in 

 metric tons. 



(2) The Commission ha3 decided that it is not desir- 

 able to fix a minimum meat ration in view of the fact 

 that no absolute physiological need exists for meat, 

 since the proteins of meat can be replaced by proteins 

 of animal origin, such as those contained in milk, 

 cheese, and eggs, as well as by proteins of vegetable 

 origin. The Commission, on the other hand, resolved 

 to fix a desirable minimum ration of fat. This desir- 

 able minimum ration amounts to 75 grams per average 

 man per day. The ration will be made up of (i) fats 

 of vegetable origin and (ii) fats of animal origin. 

 If the amount of fats of vegetable origin is insufTi- 

 cient for this purpose, it may be necessary to maintain 

 a certain stock of animals to furnish a sufficient 

 quantity. 



(3) The Commission has established the "man 

 value," i.e. the number of average men equivalent to 

 the population of each of the Allied countries. This 

 man value is taken as the basis for calculating the 

 exact amount of food which must be provided for the 

 adequate nourishment of the total population of each 

 country. 



(4) The Commission has considered estimates in tons 

 of the home productions of the soil furnished by each 

 Allied country for the year 1918-iq. These statistics 

 will serve as a basis for determining the amount of 

 food available for men and for animals respectively in 

 each country. 



(•:,) The Commission recommends that each delega- 

 tion, in calculating the amount of calories available 

 for men, should assign to men the maximum possible 

 proportion of all cereals except oats. 



(6) The Commission is of opinion that a uniform 

 average milling extraction of 85 per cent, for wheat be 

 adopted throughout the Allied countries. It is recog- 

 nised that this extraction may vary from 80 per cent, 

 in summer to qo per cent, in winter, and that it can 

 apply to the United States only as regards their in- 

 ternal consumption, and then only in case of scarcitv. 



(7) The Commission recognises that the methods 

 adopted for reserving the maximum possible propor- 

 tion of the cereal production for the use of man may 

 vary in each country. Man should always take pre- 

 cedence over animals in the allocation of food bv the 

 Governments. If this principle be accepted, the Com- 

 mission is of opinion that in the fixing of prices it is 

 the prices of animal products which should be limited 

 rather than those of such vegetable products of the soil 

 as may serve equally well for feeding men and animals. 



Thus the production of veal, pork, and poultry at 

 the expense of food available for man should be dis- 

 couraged, and this Is best achieved by fixing a price 

 for those animal products which will rnake it unprofit- 

 able for the producer to feed the animals on cereals. 



(8) The Commission reserves for its next meeting 

 the task of examining the figures which will ' enable 

 it to determine the calorie value of the home pro- 

 duction of each of the Allied countries during the year 

 iQi8-iq. The determination of this figure compared 

 with the needs in calories of the population of each 

 country will^ enable the Commission to deduce either the 

 amount of imports necessary for the maintenance of the 

 population or the exportable^ surplus, as the case maybe. 



(q) The Commission is of opinion that in all the 

 Allied countries any propaganda having for its object 

 the encouragement of food production and of economy 

 in the use of food should be organised and directed 

 by men of science well acquainted with these subjects. 

 NO. 2538, VOL. lOl] 



THE NEW STAR IN AQUILA. 



CONTINUED observations appear to indicate 

 that the new star in Aquila is following the 

 normal course of such objects, as exemplified, 

 especially by Nova Persei (1901) and Nova Gemi- 

 norum (1912). The increase of brightness from 

 about magnitude 09 at the time of discovery oa 

 June 8 to a brightness equal to, or greater than, 

 that of Vega (o-i m.) on June 9 was succeeded 

 by a steady decline, so that on June 16 the star 

 was reduced to about second magnitude. Nova. 

 Persei showed a closely similar rate of fading,, 

 from near magnitude o on February 23 to magni- 

 tude 2 on March 2, and if this precedent be fol- 

 lowed, Nova Aquilae may be expected to reach 

 the third magnitude about June 21, and the fourth 

 magnitude about ten days later. Small oscilla- 

 tions, however, may possibly accompany the 

 general decline. 



The spectrum of the nova also appears to have 

 followed the expected sequence of changes, so far 

 as can be gathered from the brief reports pre- 

 sented at the meeting of the Royal Astronomical 

 Society on June 14 by the Astronomer Royal, 

 Mr. Harold Thomson, and Prof. Fowler on the 

 visible spectrum, and by Prof. Newall, Father 

 Cortie, and the Rev. T. E. R. Phillips on the 

 photographic spectrum. The spectroscopic ob- 

 servations may be conveniently summarised by 

 comparison with previous novae, as discussed by 

 Sir Norman Lockyer in a memoir on the pheno- 

 mena of new stars published by the Solar Physics 

 Committee in 1914. It is there shown that there 

 are four distinct stages in the history of a nova 

 as revealed by its spectrum : (i) A stage of short 

 duration in which the spectrum is continuous, or 

 continuous with dark lines, occurring during the 

 rise to maximum brightness. (2) The bright-line,, 

 or "typical nova," stage, where the outstanding 

 feature is a spectrum crossed by broad bright 

 bands, many of which are accompanied by absorp- 

 tion bands on their more refrangible edges; the 

 brightest lines are those of hydrogen, but en- 

 hanced lines of iron are also prominent. (3) A 

 stage marked by the presence of a bright band of 

 unknown origin about A 4640, which Is sometimes 

 the brightest in the whole spectrum. (4) The 

 nebular stage, characterised by the bright lines 

 of gaseous nebulae, of which 5007 and 4959 are 

 the brightest in the visible spectrum. 



The first stage was shown In Nova Aquilae by 

 observations immediately after the discovery^ 

 and In observations by Prof. Newall and 

 Mr. Thomson on June 9. It is especially for- 

 tunate that the latter part of this transient stage 

 was caught by Father Cortie in a photograph 

 taken at Stonyhurst on June 10, in which dark 

 lines, somewhat resembling those of Procyon, are 

 the chief feature in the blue and violet parts of 

 the spectrum, although bright lines in the visible 

 spectrum were noted on the same evening by other 

 observers. 



The second, or "typical nova," stage had be- 

 come well developed by June 11, as shown by 



