18 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL VI. No. 1175 



the country is not receiving tlie benefit of all 

 of the ideas worth considering. Independent 

 inventors are reluctant to contribute the fruits 

 of their efforts through a board vi^hose mem- 

 bers are identified with large industrial con- 

 cerns. Unfortunately the sad story of the in- 

 ventor who receives no compensation for his 

 discoveries is only too well known. He lacks 

 the means for proper experimentation, as well 

 as for manufacture, and to obtain aid of the 

 capitalist he has to mortgage his prospects 

 too heavily. 



A correspondent has suggested that prizes 

 should be offered to stimulate individual 

 enterprise, but only investigators having 

 private means would be in a position to com- 

 pete for such prizes. It would be a better 

 plan for the government to offer scholarships 

 and to maintain extensive research labora- 

 tories and shops where experimental work 

 could be done on a large scale. The work of 

 thousands of inventors is entirely wasted not 

 only because of duplication, but because they 

 are compelled to abandon their investigations 

 after making some discoveries of more or less 

 potential value. If records of their work were 

 preserved a new epoch in the advancement of 

 science might be inaugurated. 



On April 2, W. H. Fauber, of Brooklyn, ad- 

 dressed a paper to the board of governors of 

 the Aero Club of America advocating the 

 creation of a government board of invention 

 and research in aeronautics. He also called 

 attention to the fact that it takes so long to 

 adjudicate a patent that the inventor is apt 

 to die during the process, and that an inven- 

 tion really is not protected unless it is in the 

 hands of a powerful corporation. — The New 

 Tork Evening Sun. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



BOOKS ON FOOD 



William M. Bayliss, the celebrated English 

 physiologist, has written a small volume en- 

 titled " The Physiology of Food and Economy 

 in Diet" (Longmans, Green and Co., 1917). 

 In a hundred pages he presents in clear, con- 

 cise and fascinating language the fundamental 

 principles of nutrition. Bayliss, though noted 



for his work on the secretory glands and not 

 recognized as an expert on nutrition, has nev- 

 ertheless written with the appreciative touch 

 characteristic of the master mind. 



Miss Winifred Stuart Gibbs, the supervisor 

 of home economics of the New Tork Associa- 

 tion for Improving the Condition of the Poor, 

 has made a valuable contribution to the food 

 problem in " The Minimum Cost of Living " 

 (The Macmillan Co., 1917). The income and 

 expense accounts of seventy-five families re- 

 ceiving charitable aid, in the form both of ad- 

 vice and of money, were analyzed. A food al- 

 lowance made up from twenty-two items in 

 quantities calculated to suffice for the mainte- 

 nance of the family, as constituted, gave very 

 successful results. The author states : " Any 

 one who has had experience in working vsdth 

 the tenement population knows how intimate 

 a connection exists between food and the more 

 common diseases of poverty." Thus, before 

 the allowance was granted, record after record 

 read, " children anemic," or " mother suffering 

 from malnutrition." But the allowance of a 

 minimum standard laid the foundation of good 

 health. " Such a sum can restore shattered 

 nerves and renew courage for a mother who 

 has been harassed by irregular and uncertain 

 payments of an income inadequate at best. 

 Such an assured minimum can change pale, 

 listless children into rosy-cheeked romping 

 boys and girls." The " unit " of value for 

 food per " man " per day was taken at 3,000 

 calories and cost on October 1, 1916, thirty- 

 four cents. Children were rated according to 

 their ages at various fractions of a " man." 

 These latter values appear to be minima. The 

 book tells of an inspiring deed of good work. 



Another book, " Food for the Worker," by 

 Miss Frances Stern and Miss Gertrude T. 

 Spitz, with a foreword by Lafayette B. Mendel 

 (Whitcomb and Barrows, 1917), should fill a 

 great need at the present time. In this vol- 

 ume are found 120 household receipts, with 

 their food values, and the arrangement of these 

 recipes into different menus of balanced rations 

 for use during a period of forty-nine days or 

 seven weeks. It should be of aid to any eco- 

 nomical housewife, although it aims specifically 



