Jandaey 5, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



21 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



Lectures on Nutrition — delivered under the 

 Auspices of the Washington Academy of 

 Sciences. Published at Washington, D. C, 

 1916. 



This is a reprint, in collected form, of a 

 series of four published lectures given under 

 the auspices of the Washington Academy of 

 Sciences, during April, 1916, with which is in- 

 cluded, as an introduction, the address of the 

 retiring president of the Chemical Society of 

 Washington, Dr. C. L. Alsberg, which was 

 given before a joint meeting of the Chemical 

 Society and the academy. 



The address of Dr. Alsberg, entitled " The 

 Biochemical Analysis of JSTxitrition," reviews 

 recent contribution to the knowledge of the 

 component parts of the food elements and 

 their fate in metabolism, especial attention 

 being given to the investigations of the role 

 of amino acids in nutrition. 



" The Basal Food Eequirement of Man," by 

 E. F. DuBois, considers the basal energy re- 

 quirements of man, the manner in which 

 metabolism is studied, and the factors by which 

 it is influenced under conditions of health and 



" Nutrition and Food Economics," by Gra- 

 ham Lusk, gives statistical data regarding the 

 amount of protein and the fuel value of food 

 consumed by people living under extremely 

 varied conditions. This lecture also refers to a 

 dietary study, carried out by F. C. Gephart, in 

 a private boarding school for boys. The author 

 also emphasizes the need of including on the 

 label of package foods the number of calories 

 furnished by their contents. 



" Investigations on the Mineral Metabolism 

 of Animals," by E. B. Forbes, presents some 

 of the conclusions, with reference to the role 

 of mineral elements of foods, which were 

 drawn from extensive studies of the chemistry 

 of foods and metabolism experiments with 

 swine and milch cows, data being included re- 

 garding the iodin content of foods. 



In " The Relation of the Vitamins to Nutri- 

 tion in Health and Disease," by C. Voegtlin, 

 the author outlines recent advances in the 

 science of nutrition, with special reference to 



the importance in the diet of small amounts of 

 the so-called accessory food substances essen- 

 tial for the maintenance of health. The topics 

 considered are the deficiency disease, beri- 

 beri ; the chemical isolation and chemical prop- 

 erties of vitamins and their phs'siological 

 action; and the distribution of vitamins in 

 foods. The factors which tend to reduce the 

 vitamin content of the diet are also discussed 

 at length. 



This compilation of lectures brings together 

 a great deal of useful information and con- 

 stitutes a handy reference book for investi- 

 gators and students in nutrition. 



C. F. Langw^orthy 



Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalcence in the 

 British Museum. Supplement. Vol. I. 

 Catalogue of the Amatidoe and Arctiadce 

 (NolincB and Lithosiance) in the collection 

 of the British Museum. By Sir George F. 

 Hampson, Bart. London. 1914. Pp. xxviii 

 .+ 858. 



In this large volume all the new species are 

 treated that have been made known since the 

 publication of Vol. I. (1898) and Vol. II. 

 (1900) of this series of catalogues or, more 

 properly, monographs. The family name 

 Amatidse is a change from Syntomid«, for- 

 merly used, on the ground that the generic 

 name Amata Fab. has priority over Syntomis 

 Ochs. There are many synonymic references 

 and corrections of generic locations all of 

 which will be extremely useful as aids to 

 identification of species. 330 genera and 2,002 

 species are referred to, of which 10 genera and 

 43 species represent new forms described from 

 America. A separate volume of 41 colored 

 plates accompanies the work. 



Harrison G. Dyar 



SPECIAL ARTICLES 



THE REARING OF DROSOPHILA AMPELOPHILA 

 LOEW ON SOLID MEDIA 



During the course of some experiments on 

 Drosophila which one of us was performing, 

 it became necessary to observe the beginning 

 of oviposition. It is impossible to see the 



