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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLYII. No. 1225 



The relation of deposits of iron and coal to the 

 great war: "William H. Hobbs, Ph.D., Sc.D., pro- 

 fessor of geology, University of Michigan. 



The peculiar geographical features of northeast- 

 ern France and their bearing on the war : William 

 MoKRis Davis, Se.D., Ph.D., professor emeritus of 

 geology, Harvard University. The strata of the so- 

 called Paris basin lie nested in one another, like 

 a series of broad and shallow platters, the largest 

 one beneath, the smallest one above, but the edges 

 of all of them reaching to about the same altitude, 

 except that the less resistant layers have been 

 worn down somewhat lower than the more resist- 

 ant ones. As a result, the more resistant layers 

 rise in upland belts of moderate altitude above the 

 intermediate depressions, and both the uplands and 

 the depressions are arranged in concentric ares 

 around Paris as a center. Eight of these upland 

 belts may be counted in northeastern France, 

 where they dominate the topography. The ar- 

 rangement of the rivers with respect to the uplands 

 is varied and peculiar. The local features between 

 Terdun on the Meuse and LungviUe on the Meurthe 

 are best understood when described in terms of the 

 upland belts, the depressions and the river valleys. 



Sig-veda repetitions: Maurice Bloomfield, 

 Ph.D., LL.D., professor of Sanskrit and compara- 

 tive philology, Johns Hopkins University. 



The Babylonian origin of the Jewish method of 

 slaughter: Paul Haupt, Ph.D., LL.D., professor 

 of Semitic languages, Johns Hopkins University. 

 Saturday Afternoon, April SO; William B. Scott, 



D.Sc, LL.D., president, in the Chair 

 Symposium on food problems in relation to war: 



Introductory remarTcs : Alonzo E. Taylor, M.D., 

 professor of physiological chemistry. University of 

 Pennsylvania. 



Physiological effects of prolonged reduced diet 

 on twenty-five men: Francis G. Benedict, Ph.D., 

 Se.D., director of the nutrition laboratory of the 

 Carnegie Institution of Washington. The possi- 

 bility of facing stringent food shortage made it 

 desirable to study with the greatest accuracy the 

 physiological effects of a prolonged reduced ration 

 upon a group of healthy young men. Twenty-five 

 men in two squads, volunteers from the Interna- 

 tional T. M. C. A. College in Springfield, Massa- 

 chusetts, were placed upon a reduced ration, ap- 

 proximately one half the number of calories, and 

 at the end of about two months had lost 10 per 

 cent, of their body weight. Prom there on the 

 calories were adjusted to hold the weight ait a con- 

 stant level. A long series of measurements of the 



basal metabolism, the neuro-muscular processes, 

 strength tests, etc., as well as a careful clinical ex- 

 amination, were repeated from day to day. The 

 men showed remarkable stamina in the face of the 

 reduced ration, carried out aU of their activities, 

 academic and physical, in connection with their 

 college life, and, aside from obvious degree of 

 emaciation, presented no unusual picture. A 

 marked reduction in calories in the intake was ef- 

 fected. 



Food conservation from the standpoint of the 

 chemistry of nutrition: Henet C. Sherman, 

 Ph.D., professor of food chemistry, Columbia Uni- 

 versity, New York City. 



Some economic aspects of the American food sup- 

 ply: J. EussELL Smith, Ph.D., professor of indus- 

 try, Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, Uni- 

 versity of Pennsylvania. One of the first acts of 

 the government with regard to the bread supply was 

 to interfere with the law of supply and demand by 

 guaranteeing increased home consumption and re- 

 duced home production. Despite innumerable re- 

 ports that maximum price fixing had been unsatis- 

 factory in Europe, we tried it. As one of the first 

 big steps in the United States we reduced the maxi- 

 mum price of wheat at a time when more wheat 

 was needed. We also fixed a minimum price for 

 the 1918 crop lower by a doUar than the price 

 prevailing in the spring of 1917. The American 

 farmer quietly but effectively made his answer. 

 The government, through the Department of Agri- 

 culture, caUed for planting of 47,337,000 acres of 

 winter wheat, and it got 11 per cent, less than this, 

 or 42,170,000, almost exactly the amount sown in 

 1914. Probably the worst part of this wheat price 

 fixing is that it resulted in a destructive price ra- 

 tion. The high prices of meat pushed the price of 

 corn to such a figure that in many parts of the 

 country it was cheaper to feed the pigs on wheat 

 and rye than on corn, and you may depend upon it 

 many of these four-footed brethren got the bread- 

 stuff. In some parts of New York state wheat was 

 40 to 50 cents a bushel higher than corn. The pro- 

 duction of such a condition by legislation as our 

 Congress brought about is not to be called food 

 conservation. It is food destruction. As an out- 

 raged citizen I protest against legislation that 

 makes me eat corn and makes the pig eat wheat. 

 If I were a pro-German I would secretly applaud it. 



Food control and food conservation in the United 

 States army: John E, Murlin, Major, Sanitary 

 Corps, N. A. 



Arthur W. Goodspeed, 



Secretary 



