May 31, 1912] 
work it was bound in volumes, making a very 
handsome as well as valuable set. 
OLIVE JONES, 
Inbrarian 
AN EXPERIMENT ON A FASTING MAN 
THERE was completed at this laboratory on 
May 15 a successful 31-day experiment during 
complete inanition, the subject drinking 900 
e.c. of distilled water per day. Elaborate 
measurements of the gross metabolism as in- 
dicated by the carbon dioxide production, 
oxygen consumption, water vaporized and 
heat elimination were made on each day. 
Continuous records of rectal temperature, 
pulse rate, respiration rate, ventilation of the 
lungs, blood pressure, microscopic blood ex- 
amination, careful clinical examinations, an- 
thropometric measurements and psychological 
tests were a part of each day’s routine. Pho- 
tographs of the subject at stated times and 
X-ray plates at the conclusion of the fast were 
secured. Complete urine analyses were also 
made throughout the 31 days. The mass of 
data will require several months for complete 
and verified computation. 
Newspapers and magazines, actuated only by 
the sensational element, have used every means 
to secure advance statements, and in some in- 
stances have issued “faked” statements, re- 
garding this experiment. The results will be 
presented only in the publications of the Car- 
negie Institution of Washington or in the 
regularly accredited scientific journals, and 
any prior statements purporting to be made 
by me or signed by the subject, A. Levanzin, 
are to be disregarded. 
Francis G. BENEDICT 
NUTRITION LABORATORY OF THE 
CARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON, 
Boston, MASs., 
May 15, 1912 
SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 
The Pines of Australia. By RicHarD BAKER 
and Henry G. Smits. Technical Educa- 
tion Series, No. 16. Sydney, 1910. 
The present publication of the department 
of public instruction of the state of New 
South Wales is a memoir of over four hun- 
SCIENCE 
865 
dred and fifty pages, copiously illustrated by 
means of photographs and photomicrographs 
and accompanied by two maps showing the 
distribution of the “Pines.” Many of the 
illustrations represent more or less accurately 
the appearance of stained microscopic sections 
reproduced by the three-color process. It 
seems questionable even in a semi-popular 
work like the present to use the term “ Pines” 
to represent the Conifers as a whole. Such 
an appellation is almost sure to lead to mis- 
conceptions on the part of the reader, par- 
ticularly in the southern hemisphere, where true 
pines are conspicuous by their absence. The 
authors are at some disadvantage on account 
of the multifariousness of the task they have 
set themselves, for they aim to include in their 
account of these trees, their systematic rela- 
tions, the history of the names given them, 
their morphology and anatomy, their useful 
products, including the chemistry of some of 
these and finally their geographical distribu- 
tion. This appears to be too large a field to 
be covered successfully or fully, even by the 
collaboration of a chemist and a botanist. 
Under the head of morphology and anatomy 
are recorded observations as to the significance 
of the “spur” of the cone scale of the genus 
Callitris and the probable function of the cen- 
tral columella in the cone of the same genus. 
It is noted that the chemical products, par- 
ticularly the resinous ones of species which 
resemble one another morphologically are very 
strikingly similar. Attention is called to the 
presence of manganese compounds in the par- 
enchymatous cells of the wood of Callitris and 
other genera. The manganese content in 
some cases is very considerable. The value and 
nature of the tannins and sandarac resins of 
Callitris are discussed and similar accounts 
are given of the gums, resins and oils of the 
other coniferous genera of the Australian 
flora. 
The volume concludes with appendices on 
the systematic value of the chemical products 
of plants, on the distribution of Australian 
conifers, and on the collaborators, who have 
assisted in various ways in the preparation of 
the work. There are likewise several good 
