320 HENRY A. MATTiLL AXD 11ELEX I. MATT ILL 



TABLE VI 



Aschenheini(&) found that the addition of fat to the diet of infants in- 

 creased the fecal CaO at the expense of the urinary and that if the child 

 was sick or convalescent the drain 011 CaO might he so great as to estahlish 

 a negative balance. Meyer and Birk and Rothberg found a like effect of 

 fat on the balance of Na, K, Mg, and Ca. Herter showed that the loss 

 of CaO in infantilism was connected with poor utilization of fat, and the 

 excretion was in the form of a Ca soap. He also concluded that a small 

 increase of fat in the food might convert a positive CaO balance to a 

 negative. one. Recent work (McCrudden and Fales) has not substantiated 

 Herter, !N"iemann(6) in a metabolism experiment on a normal 10-rnonths' 

 old infant varied the fat content of milk from 1.13 per cent to 3.97 per 

 cent and found a constant excretion of CaO throughout, on an intake of 

 1.8 g. CaO per day. Ho concludes that in normal infants the change from 

 a fat-poor to a fat-rich diet, so long as the fat content remains within 

 physiological limits, does not interfere with CaO absorption and does not 

 increase the fecal CaO although the typical fat stools are present. Others 

 confirm this (Wolff; Holt, Courtney and Fales(d)). Hoobler(a) goes 

 even further and shows that a high fat content if within normal physi- 

 ological limits favors retention of Ca and P but this is not the case if the 

 fat rises above the normal quantity in human milk (Lindberg). For in- 

 fants on modified cow's milk Holt and his eo- workers found the best ab- 

 sorption of Ca when the food contained 0.045-0.060 g. CaO for every gram 

 of fat and when the fat intake was not less than 4 g. per kg. body weight. 

 For young children on a mixed diet the absorption was best when the fat 

 intake was not less than 3 g. per kg. body weight and there was 0.003-0.005 

 g. CaO to every gram of fat. 



In artificial feeding with cows' milk the intolerance for fat often noticed 

 may be caused by the excessive amount of calcium present which for lack 

 of sufficient Cl or phosphate for its excretion as a salt of either of these 

 acids may be excreted as a Ca soap or may accumulate in the tissues caus- 

 ing fever and finally being excreted as Ca lactate. The dilution of the 

 inilk with whey, thus supplying a large proportion of acid elements, or 



