280 



SCIENCE 



[N. a Vol. XXXVI. No. 922 



was " such a presentation of the subject-mat- 

 ter related to human nutrition as would be 

 more or less adapted to popular use, but par- 

 ticularly to instruction of students with mod- 

 erate scientific acquirements, whether in col- 

 leges, secondary schools, short courses, schools 

 of domestic science or correspondence schools." 

 The volume is essentially one for the producer 

 and consumer. It is written in non-technical 

 language, and no chemical symbols are em- 

 ployed. 



Part I. contains eight chapters (1Y6 pages) 

 dealing with the subjects: The Plant as a 

 Source of Human Sustenance, The Chemical 

 Elements Involved in the Nutrition of the 

 Human Body, The Compounds of Human 

 Nutrition (Chapters III. and IV.), The Di- 

 •gestion of Food, The Distribution and Trans- 

 formations of the Digested Food, The Func- 

 tions of Food Compounds, Laws of Nutrition. 

 Part II. is devoted to practical dietetics and 

 the chapters are headed: General Considera- 

 tions, The Selection of Food or the Regula- 

 tion of Diet, The Eelation of Diet to the 

 Tarying Conditions of Life, Food Economics, 

 Special Dietetic Methods, The Nutrition of 

 the Child, The Character and Food Value of 

 Certain Commercial Articles, The Prepara- 

 tion of Food, Food Sanitation, The Preserva- 

 tion of Foods. Pages 351-443 consist of tables 

 showing the composition of American food 

 materials. 



A book on nutrition vsrritten for non-scien- 

 tific readers can not justly be criticized for 

 lack of strict scientific accuracy. In a few 

 instances however the author seems to have 

 incorporated material conveniently at hand 

 instead of seeking the best available. For ex- 

 ample, in Table II., page 16, is recorded the 

 ■content of the principal mineral elements in a 

 number of grains and vegetables. The figures 

 are derived from Wolff's " Aschen Analysen " 

 published in 18Y1. It is now well known that 

 Wolff's values for suKur, and in many cases 

 for chlorine, are entirely unreliable. Again in 

 Table XV., page 60, com is listed as a protein 

 and the values for its cleavage products are 

 those given by Osborne and Clapp for zein. 



Osborne and Jones have expressed greater con- 

 fidence in a later analysis of this protein.' 



On page 25 occurs the statement that or- 

 ganic matter is of two classes : (1) protein and 

 non-protein, and (2) carbohydrates, fats and 

 acids. Misprints are occasionally met with 

 but in general are not misleading. On page 

 34, however, a column of bases is headed 

 acids, and again on pages 297-300 in four in- 

 stances the cost of certain dietaries for chil- 

 dren is given in fractions of a cent where it 

 is evident that dollars are intended. 



On page 128 hsematin is used where haemo- 

 chromogen is meant, and on pages 129, 135 and 

 149 the same term is employed where hemo- 

 globin is the correct term. 



Reformed spelling is employed in some 

 cases but not in others. Thus on pages 68 

 and 74 xylose is spelled zylose, while saccha- 

 rose is regularly spelled in the old fashioned 

 way. On page 68 zylin is given as the equiva- 

 lent of wood gum and as the mother sub- 

 stance of zylose. Similarly arabin is said to 

 yield arabinose. Obviously xylan and araban 

 are referred to. One might well question the 

 wisdom of changing, without explanation, 

 word endings having so definite a significance 

 in carbohydrate nomenclature. 



The data presented are on the whole reliable, 

 and the errors noted should detract but little 

 from the book when used by the class of stu- 

 dents for which it is intended. It is written 

 in a conversational style and is highly enter- 

 taining reading. The treatment of the eco- 

 nomic and social aspects of human nutrition 

 is somewhat better than the scientific, but it 

 is decidedly the best non-technical treatment 

 of the subject in general. The discussion of 

 special dietetic practises (vegetarianism, un- 

 cooked food, etc.) is especially good, and the 

 book should do much good in replacing the 

 popular works on nutrition written by adher- 

 ents to the various dietetic fads. 



E. V. McCoLLUM 



University of Wisconsin 



' Osborne and Clapp, American Journal of Phys- 

 iology, Vol. 20, 1908, p. 477. Osborne and Jones, 

 ibid., Vol. 26, 1910, p. 212. 



