Mabch 12, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



273 



will be disposed to watch with sympathetic 

 interest the movement for a federation of 

 scientific and technical workers; but until 

 their plans are more fully known it will be 

 premature to say that medicine should have 

 any direct concern. — British Medical Journal. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



The Productivity of Invertebrate Fish Food 

 on the Bottom of Oneida Lake, with Special 

 Reference to Mollusks. By Frank Collins 

 Baker. Technical Publication No. 9, New 

 York State CoU^e of Forestry at Syracuse 

 University, Syracuse, IST. Y. 1918. Pp. 

 233, Figs. 44. 



This valuable contribution to the general 

 subject of limnology is based upon a numer- 

 ical study of the bottom fauna of a portion of 

 Oneida Lake, New York, which was made 

 dm-ing the month of July, 1916. Lower South 

 Bay and two smaller areas, all at the south- 

 western corner of the lake, were covered in 

 the survey; they constitute an area of 1,164 

 acres, or a little less than two square miles 

 out of a total lake surface of about 80 square 

 miles. The maximum depth of the water in 

 the area under consideration is about 19 feet 

 as compared with a maximum of 55 feet for 

 the entire lake. 



In the area covered by this survey the 

 greatest development of plant and animal life 

 was found in the zone extending from the 

 shoreline out to the six-foot contour line. 

 Niunerically, about 88 per cent, of the in- 

 vertebrate animals were obtained in this area. 

 The second zone lay between the six-foot and 

 the twelve-foot contour lines and the popula- 

 tion of this belt was very much smaller than 

 in the first zone. A still further decline in 

 the density of the population was noted be- 

 tween the twelve-foot and the eighteen-foot 

 contour lines, which constituted the third 

 zone. 



Various types of bottom were found in the 

 area studied, ranging from boulders to clay 

 and mud. Of those represented, the sand 

 bottom was richest in animal life while the 

 boulder bottom was poorest. 



A classification of the animals on the basis 



of their feeding habits showed that herbiv- 

 orous and detritus feeders greatly predomi- 

 nated over the carnivorous forms; the latter, 

 in fact, constituted only 0.29 per cent, of the 

 total population. Of the various groups of 

 animals represented, the mollusks yielded a 

 much larger nmnber of individuals than any 

 other group; they even exceeded in numbers 

 all of the associated animals combined. 



Chancey Juday 



Madison, Wisconsin 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



THE ANTISCORBUTIC PROPERTY OF DEHY- 

 DRATED MEAT 



The present conception of a perfect diet de- 

 mands that the intake contain adequate pro- 

 teins, sufficient fats, carbohydrates, inorganic 

 salts, bulk, and the three vitamines designated 

 as water-soluble B, fat-soluble A, and anti- 

 scorbutic. For some time we have used to pro- 

 duce experimental scurvy in guinea-pigs a 

 combination which meets all of these require- 

 ments except that of the antiscorbutic vita- 

 mine. A mixture of soy bean flour, whole milk, 

 dried yeast, paper pulp, sodium chloride and 

 calcium lactate is dried down into a cake.^ 

 This is fed as the basal ration supplemented 

 with a definite amount of the product whose 

 antiscorbutic potency it is desired to deter- 

 mine. By this procedure we have demon- 

 strated that dried cabbage,^ dehydrated toma- 

 toes- and desiccated orange juice^ retain some 

 of their original content of antiscrobutic 

 vitamine. 



The indications are that each foodstuff ought 

 to be studied individually. Meat being one of 

 the most staple articles of our dietaries it has 

 therefore seemed highly important to deter- 

 mine if it retains any antiscorbutic potency 

 after drying. 



Stef ansson* states that " the strongest anti- 



1 Givens, M. H.. and Cohen, B., J. Biol. Chem., 

 1918, 36, 127. 



2 Givens, M. H., and MeOlugage, H. B., J. Biol. 

 Chem., 1918, 37, 253. 



3 Givens, M. H., and MoClugage, H. B., Am. J. 

 Dis. cm., 1919, 18, 30. 



♦ Stefansson, V., J. A. M. A., 1918, 71, 1715. 



