594 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX. No. 1277 



Since the materials for this first volume were 

 collected, the same authors have found espe- 

 cially in the wild life of South America and 

 of Asia materials for these and for more pro- 

 found and exhaustive studies which from 

 time to time will be published in succeeding 

 volumes of Zoologica. 



The present work contains 436 pages and 

 138 illustrations. These collected papers are 

 handsomely bound, for free distribution to 

 certain of the libraries which exchange with 

 the library of the Zoological Park, and for 

 sale to other institutions. The volumes ap- 

 pear imder the editorship of Henry Fairfield 

 Osborn, president of the society, with the as- 

 sistance of Elwin E. Sanborn, and may be 

 purchased by application to the secretary of 

 the Zoological Society, ISTew York Zoological 

 Park. 



Henry FAmpiELD Osborn 



May 29, 1919 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



THE REASON MEAT INCREASES OXIDATION IN 

 THE BODY MORE THAN FAT OR SUGAR 



Lavoisier'- showed that the ingestion of food 

 increased oxidation in the body. Eubner^ 

 found that of the food materials, the ingestion 

 of meat increased oxidation most, fat next and 

 sugar least. Several theories have been ad- 

 vanced in attempts to explain how food in- 

 creases oxidation in the body. The one most 

 generally accepted seems to be the theory, or 

 some modification of the theory, of Voit, who 

 claimed that the presence of increased quanti- 

 ties of food materials augmented the inherent 

 power of the cells to metabolize. We^ found 

 that the ingestion of food produced an in- 

 crease in catalase, an enzyme possessing the 

 property of liberating oxygen from hydro- 

 gen peroxide, by stimulating the alimentary 

 glands, particularly the liver, to an increased 

 output of this enzyme, and that the ingestion 

 of meat, in keeping with its greater stimula- 



1 Lavoisier, Mem. de I' Acad, des Sc, 1780. 

 2Eubner, " Energiegesetze, " 322. 

 3 Burge and Neill, The American Journal of 

 Physiology, Vol. 46, No. 2, May, 1918. 



ting effect on heat production, increased cata- 

 lase more than fat or sugar. It was found 

 that the amino acids, the essential constituents 

 of meat or protein, were responsible for the 

 stimulating effect of the proteins, the simple 

 sugars for the stimulating effect of the starchy 

 foods and the neutral fats for the stimulating 

 effect of the fats. We found, also, that by 

 whatever means oxidation was increased in 

 the body, there resulted a corresponding in- 

 crease in catalase. Hence, the conclusion was 

 drawn that the increase in oxidation follow- 

 ing the ingestion of food, as well as the in- 

 crease in oxidation produced in other ways, 

 was due to an increase in catalase. 



The object of the present investigation was 

 to determine why the amino acids, the es- 

 sential constituents of protein, stimulate the 

 alimentary glands, particularly the liver, to a 

 greater increase in catalase, with resulting 

 greater increase in oxidation, than does fat, 

 and why fat produces a greater increase than 

 sugar. The animals used were dogs. The 

 amino acid, glycocoll, and two related com- 

 pounds, acetamid and sodium acetate; the fat, 

 olein and its constituents, glycerine and oleic 

 acid; and the sugar, dextrose, were the mate- 

 rials used. Ten grams of the sugar and of 

 the amino acid and five grams of the fat, per 

 kilo of body weight, were used. 



After etherizing the animals, an incision in 

 the abdominal wall was made and the mate- 

 rial to be used was introduced in about equal 

 quantities, into the stomach and upper part of 

 the small intestine, by means of a hypodermic 

 syringe. The catalase in 0.5 c.c. of blood 

 taken from the liver was determined before 

 as well as at intervals after the introduction 



