252 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1129 



A study of the channels of elimination and the 

 influence of inosite upon the metabolism of man. 

 It is shown that in man inosite is eliminated only 

 through the kidneys. About 91 per cent, of the 

 ingested inosite disappears and only some 9 per 

 cent, is excreted in the urine. When inosite is 

 given at the rate of 0.5 grams per kilo of body 

 weight it causes some diarrhea, but aside from this 

 no other disturbance was observed; and with the 

 exception of an increased excretion of creatinine 

 it had no marked influence upon the metabolism of 

 man. 



Concerning the Utilization of Inosite in the Animal 

 Organism in the Dog: E. J. Anderson. 

 These experiments were made with the object in 

 view of throwing some light upon the fate of 

 inosite in the animal organism and to determine 

 whether inosite is utilized in such a way as to 

 cause a rise in the respiratory quotient of a fast- 

 ing dog. 



The results show, first, that there was no rise 

 in the respiratory quotient; second, that as much 

 as 77 per cent, of the ingested inosite was recov- 

 ered in the excreta, and third, that inosite is ab- 

 sorbed very slowly from the intestine of a dog 

 and hence the greater portion is eliminated with 

 the feces. 



Studies on the Distribution of Nitrogen in Egg 



Lecithin: Mary Louise Foster. 



The fact that the Herzig and Meyer method for 

 determination of methyl groups gave inconclusive 

 evidence of the pressure of choline in lecithin has 

 led the author to study the distribution of the 

 nitrogen in lecithin. Merck's preparation of egg 

 lecithin was purified and used for analysis. The 

 methods employed were Kjeldahl with Arnold- 

 Gunning modification for total nitrogen. Haus- 

 mann's method as modified by Osborne for the 

 anrich, and diamino nitrogen and the Styli's 

 method for total amino nitrogen. The results 

 seem to indicate that the amide nitrogen repre- 

 sents less than 2 per cent, of the total, monoamino 

 nitrogen about 40 per cent, and the diamino nitro- 

 gen about 50 per cent. 



Further work is in progress. 



Presence of Creatinine in Urine of Children: 

 Louise Stanley and Emma B. Wagner. 

 We have planned a series of observations on the 

 urine of children of various ages. In each case 

 we obtained at least three samples for determina- 

 tion of creatine and creatinine in 100 c.c. of urine. 

 We have tried in each to check this up by a 

 twenty-four hour sample. The diets we were not 

 able to control in all cases. We were, however, 



able to get very accurate information in regard to 

 them. We find that there is a very great irregu- 

 larity of the proportion of creatine to creatinine. 

 This variation is less in the case of babies on reg- 

 ular diet. It is quite as irregular on a creatine- 

 free as on a creatine diet. In boys, it was present 

 in the urine of a boy at ten while absent in Ms 

 brother, aged twelve. Both were normal and ac- 

 tive and on an ordinary mixed diet. In girls, it 

 seems it may continue to puberty, where it ap- 

 pears intermittently in connection with the men- 

 strual cycle. In some girls it disappears entirely 

 before puberty. This phase we are at present in- 

 vestigating further. We hope to continue the in- 

 vestigation for several years and check further by 

 determining the age at which it disappears from 

 the urine of some of the children under observa- 

 tion. Our figures show that the diet plays an im- 

 portant function in the amount of creatine in the 

 urine. It has been shown by other investigators 

 that in starvation the feeding of carbohydrate de- 

 creases the amount of creatine in the urine. Mc- 

 Crudden has shown that increasing the carbohy- 

 drate in the diets of children causes not a decrease 

 but if any change an increase in the creatine of 

 urine. We have some evidence which tends to 

 support this observation. This seems to us, how- 

 ever, to support the idea of a relationship between 

 carbohydrates and creatine metabolism rather than 

 the opposite which MeCrudden is trying to prove. 

 It seems quite possible that if the excretion of 

 creatine is connected, as Bose suggests, with car- 

 bohydrate metabolism, you would expect a de- 

 crease on feeding carbohydrate in starvation. On 

 the other hand, where there is a metabolic condi- 

 tion which results in a creatine excretion on a 

 regular diet, this condition, if caused by carbohy- 

 drates, would be aggravated by the addition of 

 more carbohydrate. 



We have results which tend to support this 

 theory and this will be the hypothesis upon which 

 our future experiments will be planned. 

 A Bacteriological Study of Hamburger Steak: 



Edwin LeFevre. 



In a study of hamburger steak, as sold in the 

 public markets, the author, following the sugges- 

 tions of Weingirl and Newton, worked out a tech- 

 nique which seems to afford the most satisfactory 

 method for the bacteriological examination of 

 chopped meat. The essential feature of the 

 method is the careful selection of ten grams of 

 lean meat from a pound of the product, this being 

 ground up in a mortar with the aid of white sand 

 and a 0.5 per cent, solution being added with con- 

 tinued grinding to secure the proper dilution for 



