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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVII. No. 1221 



soldier. Considerably more latitude is re- 

 quired in the selection of foods which may 

 tempt the appetite of the soldier, if ill in 

 bed. The realization of these facts led to 

 another request from the Ked Cross for a 

 ration to be known as the Invalid Ration. 

 This was designed in the first instance for 

 American prisoners in Germany too ill to 

 be out of bed, but it has been thought that 

 the same ration could be xised also by sick 

 soldiers in our own hospitals in this coun- 

 try. This ration therefore has been con- 

 structed with the idea that it could be used 

 by sick soldiers anywhere in our own serv- 

 ice, or in the prison camp. The ration has 

 been approved by the President and 

 adopted. It follows: unpolished rice, yel- 

 low cornmeal, sugar, potted chicken. Juli- 

 enne or compressed soup tablets, dried milk 

 powder of malted milk, beef extract, minute 

 tapioca or other form of prepared pudding 

 crackers, tea, milk chocolate, marmalade, 

 fresh fruit or fruit juice. These articles, 

 however, are regarded as only supplemen- 

 tary to those of the regular ration, whether 

 prisoners' ration or the garrison ration. 



It is comforting just now to remember 

 that the status of the science of nutrition in 

 America is fully equal to its status in the 

 land of our enemies at the beginning of the 

 war. If we fail in the trial that is upon us, 

 it will not be for lack of information. If 

 we fail to keep our civilian population 

 properly nourished, it will not be because 

 we do not know the functions of food, or 

 because we do not know what foods are 

 suitable. Likewise with the army. 



Our own government has been foremost 

 in the support of scientific investigations 

 along these lines. The names of Atwater, 

 Chittenden, Lusk, Benedict, Mendel, Os- 

 borne, Taylor, MeCollum, Alsberg, Armsby 

 are known wherever the science of nutrition 

 is studied, and the completeness of their 

 work is openly admired and envied in Eng- 



land, Prance, Scandinavia, and even in 

 Germany. Immediately preceding the out- 

 break of the war, no less than a dozen 

 young German investigators of promise had 

 studied in American laboratories, because 

 the work of several of these laboratories was 

 considerably in advance of similar labora- 

 tories in Germany or Austria. The support 

 of these laboratories by the national gov- 

 ernment, by state governments, and by our 

 wealthy benefactors, Carnegie, Rockefeller, 

 Mrs. Sage and others was responsible for 

 their splendid equipment. But the lead- 

 ership also was not lacking. In fact, the 

 scientific leadership pointed the way to the 

 benefactions and governmental appropria- 

 tions. John R. Murlin 

 Food Division, 

 Surgeon-General's Office, 

 Washington, D. 0. 



ICELAND SPAR IN MONTANA 



The existence of large deposits of pure cal- 

 cite has recently been brought to the attention 

 of the Bureau of Mines. These deposits oc- 

 cur near Gray ClifP, Montana, and have been 

 inspected by Dr. S. C. Lind, of the Bureau. 

 At the present time there is no considerable 

 market for pure calcite. It is used for the 

 manufacture of some kinds of glass. Perfect 

 crystals of calcite are used in certain optical 

 instruments. In the past practically all the 

 optical material has been mined from one 

 deposit in Iceland. The crystals from the 

 Montana deposit appear to be the nearest ap- 

 proach to Iceland spar yet uncovered in any 

 part of the world. 



Since the seventeenth century science re- 

 quirements for optically perfect calcite have 

 been supplied almost wholly from the well- 

 known but small deposit on the east coast of Ice- 

 land. This is a very remarkable occurrence, 

 consisting of a cavity in basalt completely 

 filled with enormous crystals of pure calcite. 

 Ehombohedrons and scalenohehedrons with 

 diameters as great as three feet have not been 

 imcommon. In recent years, however, the 



