October 20, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



517 



called acute and chronic crowd poisoning has 

 been recognized for years, and the effects of 

 limited air space upon the undue prevalence 

 of tuberculosis have been repeatedly observed 

 in barracks, prisons, tenement houses, etc., 

 and it is gratifying to be told that " at the 

 present time, other conditions such as food, 

 exercise, etc., remaining much the same, but 

 more air-space and better ventilation having 

 since been provided, the death rate from 

 phthisis is considerably less amongst these 

 servants and prisoners of the state than 

 amongst the civil population." 



In another part of the book (p. 456) the 

 authors, in discussing the subject of tubercu- 

 losis and the principal predisposing causes, 

 adduce statistical data gathered at Salford 

 and supplied by Dr. Tatham indicating the 

 role which " overcrowding " and foul air play 

 in promoting the prevalence of this disease. 

 " Thus, in districts where all the houses were 

 built on the vicious system known as ' back to 

 back ' the phthisis death rate was 5.2 per 1,000 

 living; where 56 per cent, of the houses were 

 so built, the rate was 3.6; where 23 per cent, 

 only were so constructed, it was further re- 

 duced to 3.3; and lastly where there were no 

 ' back to back ' houses — that is to say, where 

 all the houses were provided with some means 

 of light and air both in front and to the rear 

 — the rate was only 2.8 per 1,000. These re- 

 sults are all the more remarkable because, 

 with the exception of the absence of means for 

 thorough ventilation, the back to back houses 

 on the whole were, in Dr. Tatham's opinion, 

 in better sanitary condition than the other 

 houses. Similar results have been obtained 

 by other observers and by Dr. Darra Mair, of 

 the Local Government Board (see Report of 

 Medical Officer of the Local Government 

 Board, 1908-9, p. xix)." 



Space will not permit to refer in detail to 

 the excellent chapters on Warming and Light- 

 ing, Soils and Building Sites, the Hygiene of 

 Dwellings, Exercise and Clothing, all of which 

 contain valuable information of general and 

 personal interest. In the chapter on Food, 

 Beverages and Condiments much space is de- 

 voted to Professor Chittenden's work on 



" Physiological Economy in Nutrition with 

 special reference to the Minimal Proteid 

 Requirements of the Healthy Man." His 

 elaborate experiments conducted with three 

 classes of men, namely. A, five professional 

 men (brain workers) ; B, thirteen United 

 States army soldiers representative of men 

 undergoing moderate physical work; and, G, 

 a group of eight university students, all being 

 thoroughly trained athletes and eng-aged daily 

 in arduous physical exercise, have shown that 

 health and vigor without loss of body weight, 

 when equilibrium has once been established, 

 can be maintained on a diet containing only 

 from one third to one half of the proteid pre- 

 scribed in the generally accepted dietary 

 standards of Voit, Eanke, Moleschott and this 

 without any increase and even, in some cases, 

 with diminution in the non-nitrogenous ele- 

 ments of the diet. These investigations are 

 of great economic and physiologic importance, 

 since it involves not only a tremendous waste 

 of expensive food material, but also a waste 

 and loss of energy of vital forces in excessive 

 metabolism and possibly also the accumula- 

 tion of toxic v^aste products in the blood, 

 which are believed to be the cause of degen- 

 erative diseases and premature death. 



The authors declare that Professor Chitten- 

 den's conclusions " have been by no means 

 universally accepted by physiologists and 

 others interested in the construction of dietary 

 scales, as they seem opposed to the general 

 experience of civilized nations; and however 

 interesting as indications of the adaptability 

 of the human frame and functions to altera- 

 tions in nutrition for comparatively short 

 periods, the experiments were hardly of suffi- 

 ciently long duration to warrant conclusions 

 applicable to the life of a community for long 

 periods. . . ." 



We believe that there is no subject in the 

 realm of physiology more important than the 

 determination of reliable dietary standards. 

 We have been extremely careful in other ma- 

 chines to study fuel economy and to use only 

 those substances for the generation of force 

 which are proper and no more than is abso- 

 lutely necessary. Opposition fosters the spirit 



