Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
April,  1914.  j 
Lecithin. 
tion,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  of  the  navigable  streams  and  lakes 
of  the  United  States." 
There  is  thus  abundant  authority  for  both  laboratory  and  field 
investigations  by  the  Public  Health  Service.  As  in  the  past  the 
investigations  will  be  conducted  by  officers  specially  trained  and  with 
such  cooperation  as  state  and  local  health  authorities  may  be  able 
to  render.  But  in  order  that  the  great  needs  of  the  country  may 
be  met,  more  men  and  more  money  must  be  provided  and  the  Public 
Health  Service  must  have  the  active  support  of  individuals,  profes- 
sional associations,  and  other  organizations  to  be  benefited. 
Many  highly  important  problems  await  solution.  Among  them 
may  be  mentioned  the  standardization  of  biologic  and  other  thera- 
peutic products,  the  determination  of  the  conditions  causing  pellagra 
and  certain  other  diseases,  the  extent  of  the  migrations  of  tubercu- 
lous and  other  patients  from  one  locality  to  another,  the  ascertain- 
ment of  the  influence  of  artificial  illuminants  on  health,  the  determi- 
nation of  the  relation  of  housing  and  other  conditions  to  labor 
efficiency,  and  the  prescribing  of  reasonable  standards  to  control 
stream  pollution. 
Requests  are  received  daily  from  all  parts  of  the  country  for  in- 
formation regarding  sanitary  problems  and  methods  of  handling 
them.  These  requests  are  an  excellent  indication  of  the  amount  and 
extent  of  work  to  be  performed  in  the  immediate  future.  In  one 
section  of  the  country  the  question  of  the  pollution  of  streams  is 
pressing  for  solution ;  in  another,  it  may  be  industrial  accidents  and 
poisoning;  in  another,  the  question  of  the  reduction  of  infant  mor- 
bidity; and  in  still  another,  the  measures  that  must  be  taken  to 
eradicate  malaria  and  other  communicable  disease. 
LECITHIN.* 
In  the  economy  oi  living  cells  belonging  to  the  vegetable  and 
animal  kingdoms,  a  very  important  part  is  played  by  a  certain  group 
of  bodies,  which  are  generally  spoken  of  collectively  as  "  lipoids."  1 
*  Reprinted  from  E.  Merck's  Annual  Report,  1912,  vol.  xxvi.,  pp.  1-22. 
1  The  word  "  lipoid  "  is  derived  from  the  Greek  "kt%oq  —  fat.  It  denotes 
fatty  substances  which  contain  phosphorus,  or  phosphorus  and  nitrogen,  or 
neither  of  these  elements,  and  which  have  special  functions  to  perform  in  the 
cell.    An  exact  definition  of  the  term  "  lipoid  "  cannot  be  given.  Kletzinsky 
