68 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 339 



A Study of the Nutrition of College Women with Respect to Vitamin 

 C Requirements. (H. S. Mitchell and 0. A. Merriam.) This project was 

 initiated in October 1936 and is concerned with the vitamin C intake and ex- 

 cretion of eighty freshmen women as related to their general nutritional condi- 

 tion. Vitamin C has been made the point of attack because of the tendency for 

 college students to reduce expenses, if necessary, by curtailment in the purchase 

 of fresh foods. The Department of Horticultural Manufactures which has 

 been interested for years in the vitamin C content of foodstuffs has offered to 

 assist and may cooperate in certain phases of this project. If results warrant 

 it, this project may continue for a period of 2 or 3 years in order to obtain infor- 

 mation on the same students over a period of time. 



A Study of the Source and Amount of Iodine Effective in the Preven- 

 tion of the Pathology Produced in Rabbits and Guinea Pigs by Feeding 

 Cholesterol. (H. S. Mitchell and M. Goldfaden.) This research is being 

 sponsored by the Lang Fund. Findings to date are entirely preliminary and 

 incomplete. One group of guinea pigs fed on cholesterol with and without 

 supplements of iodine in three different forms has been autopsied and various 

 tissues saved for histological study. There was extensive gross pathology of 

 liver and spleen in cholesterol-fed animals with some slight indication of lesser 

 pathological changes in those animals which had received certain iodine supple- 

 ments. Blood vessel changes were not prominent but some thickening and loss 

 of elasticity of the aorta was evident in certain animals. A group of twenty- 

 four rabbits is now being fed cholesterol with and without various sources of 

 iodine. The growth and general condition of the rabbits is apparently satis- 

 factory but autopsies, which are the final criteria, will not be made until later. 

 It is impossible to give even preliminary conclusions at the present time, but 

 the approach to the problem appears to be promising and worthy of continued 

 and more extensive investigation. 



Use of Banana and Milk in Diets for Weight Control. (G. M. Cook.) 

 Work on this project was completed in June 1936 and the complete report in 

 the form of a thesis was sent to the United Fruit Company who sponsored this 

 project. The thirteen college students who participated in the study not only 

 aided in making a scientific contribution but also personally benefited from the 

 experience. 



The dietary regime was as follows: One half pint of whole milk and two 

 bananas or other fruits in amounts equivalent in caloric value were served for 

 breakfast and lunch, while a well-balanced dinner of restricted caloric value 

 was served at night. The daily caloric intake ranged between 1,200 and 1,300 

 calories. The average weight loss ranged from 1.25 to 3.8 pounds per week. 

 Of the thirteen subjects, seven found the satiety value of the banana regime 

 to be greater than that of other fruits; four students noticed no difference; 

 one would not express an opinion; one considered variety more satisfying than 

 the monotony of the banana regime. 



