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plums, dates, olive oil, honey, almonds, pignolias, pine nuts, and walnuts.

According to the analyses made, she received 33 grams of protein, 59 grams of fat, 110 grams of sugar, starch, etc., and 20 of crude fiber per diem, the whole yielding 1,300 calories of food value, at a cost of less than 24 cents.

The theoretic requirement of a woman at light work has been stated to be 90 grams of protein and 2,500 calories.

It must be stated that this subject was below the average size, and took little exercise.

Study No. 329 was of a woman thirty years old, weighing 104 pounds, and the period of observation twenty-five days.

This subject lived on a similar assortment of fruits and nuts, with a few additions, including celery, tomatoes, raisins, and Brazil

nuts.

Her daily consumption amounted to 25 grams protein, 57 grams fat, 72 grams sugar, starch, etc., and 27 grams of crude fiber, with a food value of 1,040 calories, and at a cost of 17.2 cents per day.

This woman, as will be seen, consumed 260 calories less than the subject of the former experiment, yet she seemed perfectly nourished, and attended to her household duties and the care of her two nieces and nephews.

Study No. 330 had for a subject a girl of thirteen, weighing 751⁄2 pounds. The observation extended over a period of twentyeight days. The number of meals consumed was 56, or two per diem.

Up to six years of age this child had been fed the conventional mixed diet in common use. She was at this age placed upon a fruitarian diet, although she was, until the date of this experiment, permitted the use of cereals and vegetables whenever she took a notion to eat them. Iler aunt, however, stated that whenever she partook of much starchy food she neither looked nor felt as well as when living on fruits and nuts, and was very glad to return to the uncooked and primitive diet.

The cost of her daily ration was 19 cents.

It consisted of a very small quantity of cereals (costing 1.1 cents), apples, apricots, figs, olives, oranges, peaches, Japanese and red plums, dates, raisins, olive oil, honey, almonds, Brazil nuts, and pine nuts. The principal fruits used were plums, and the principal nuts almonds.

By analysis, it was determined that she realized but 26 grams of protein and 1,235 calories of food value from this regimen, as against 90 grams protein and 2,450 calories theoretically required by such a child. In the face of this assumed lack she had every appearance of being well fed, and enjoyed the best of spirits.

The lesson is sufficiently obvious. The theory is deprived of its former dignity. We all eat too much, and the flesh-pots of Egypt, for which we all sigh, are by no means a necessity.

THE HUMAN FORM DIVINE.

THE fashion plates of the past half century form a museum of caricature that for grotesqueness no professional artist in that field will ever be able to equal.

It is well for the race that few real women even attempt to bring their figures to equal the ungracefully impossible burlesques on human anatomy that are every week perpetrated in the pages of the journals devoted to feminine fashions. To accomplish the extremes of Parisian fool-killing fashions would require each ambitious imitator to be anatomically dissected and resected. Just at present her fore-end, her nautical prow as she sails down Fifth Avenue or Broadway, needs to be thrust several feet forward of the rest of her body like the jibboom of any regular schooner or other craft. Her belt line is no longer horizontal but approaches the vertical, at least to the extent of an angle of forty-five degrees.

In the name of the Goddess of Health, and of the artistic shades of the Venus de Milo, in the name of their sainted grandmothers, what are the curled darlings who

ape these outlandish, sense-insulting and art-shocking figures thinking about? they imagine that even the vapid and brainless dudes who ogle them as they pass have any other feeling than one of dirision and disgust?

And yet, semi-sensible women make freaks of themselves by half-way imitations of the idiotic dissections foisted on society by the Parisian man-milliners and the demimonde. If she rejects it for her own figure, mama tolerates if she does not even endorse it for her ambitious daughters. Shame on women who have no more womanhood than to surrender to the senseless and distorted fads of the foreign fashion-mongers.

ANOTHER NEW FOOD PRODUCT.

THIS time it comes from tropical Africa and southern Asia. It is called "Voandzou." It also grows in Brazil, where it is called "Mandubide Angola." It is said to possess all the nutritive elements required for human nourishment, combined in due and proper proportions, and, therefore, constituting in itself a "balanced diet." It is thus described in the Montreal Pharm. Journal:

"The curious plant which was described by M. Balland before the French Academy of Science is termed 'voandzou.' It is believed that it is the only plant which is known to possess in proper proportion all the elements that are required for the nourishment of man. It is a native of tropical Africa, and is largely cultivated by the negroes.

In southern Asia it is common, but it does not grow in America, excepting in Brazil, where it is known under the name 'Mandubide Angola.' Its nutritive portion consists of large masses, which are enclosed in large pods, like beans. When raw it tastes like an ordinary bean, but when cooked has the flavor of chestnuts. They contain about 10 per cent. of water, 19 per cent. of nitrogenous matter, 6 per cent. of fats, and 5 per cent. of stach with 4 per cent. of cellulose.

The conclusion of Balland was that immediate steps should be taken to cultivate this plant wherever it can be grown. It is not believed that it can be successfully cultivated in Europe, but it is thought that it will prove an admirable food supply."

If further tests prove that this new food product contains, as is claimed, a much richer percentage of nitrogen than any other known vegetable, and that this nitrogenous element is in a disgestible and assimilable form, it can be made to take the place of beef, pork, and poultry, and will prove a boon to the poor and a besom to the butcher, besides it may ring the death-knell of the cattle trust and the pork barons.

The fruit-growers of Florida, Puerto Rico, and Southern California should promptly investigate the "voandzou."

THIRTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STORRS AGRICULTURAL STATION.

THE Report of the Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station for 1900 has just been received. It contains, in addition to the report of the director, Prof. W. O. Atwater, giving a brief review of the work of the station, a number of articles on dairy bacteriology, experiments with fertilizers, nutrition experiments with men in the respiration calorimeter, and other lines.

Prof. Conn and Mr. Esten report some experiments made to determine, so far as possible, the types of bacteria which produce the ripening of cream under normal conditions. The results of these experiments help toward settling the questions as to whether the acid organisms alone are concerned in cream ripening or whether the non-acid species assist in producing good butter. They also aid in determining how to handle starters so as to get better results in butter making than are obtained by the use of any of the bacteria cultures now employed by dairymen.

Mr. R. H. Burr describes some investiga

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tions on the sources of the acid organisms concerned in the souring of milk. He drew milk from cows in such ways that part of the milk was not exposed to external contamination, while the rest was freely exposed during the milking and after. The former contained no acid organisms and remained sweet, while the latter did contain the organisms, and became sour and curdled in the usual manner. Furthermore, in postmortem bacteriological examinations of the udders of cows he found none of the acid organisms present. He thus shows that these bacteria get into the milk after it is drawn. He also shows that they come from the dust and dirt from the air, the stable and the cow. The importance of a knowledge of these facts to dairymen is pointed

out.

The experiments with tuberculous cows and the use of their milk in feeding calves, which were begun at the station in 1896, were ended in 1900 by the slaughter of the diseased animals. A summary of the results of the expeniments of the four years is given by Prof. Phelps. The general conclusion is that the danger of infection from the use of the milk increased as the disease advanced in the cows.

A report of progress in the several classes of field experiments with fertilizers that are continued year by year at Storrs is given by Prof. Phelps. The results of the special nitrogen experiments with corn, cow peas and soy beans, carried on for the purpose of studying the effect of nitrogenous fertilizers upon yield and composition, correspond with those of previous years. They indicate that, for the cereal crops, i.e., grasses and grains, including corn, there is a two-fold advantage in the nitrogen of the fertilizers, in that both the total yield of the crop and the proportion of nitrogenous compounds (protein) in the crop are increased. With the legumes, as clover, beans, peas, cow peas, etc., the nitrogen of the fertilizers has but little or no effect upon either the yield or the composition. Considering the value of protein in fodder for milk production, the effect

of nitrogenous fertilizers on the cereal crops is an important matter for dairymen.

The results of the soil tests with fertilizers, made for the purpose of studying the deficiencies of soil in plant food, seem to show that on the soil of the college farm, where these experiments are made, the peculiarities of the crop are of more importance than any deficiency of the soil in determining the demand for fertilizers. The particular importance of these tests to the farmer is in pointing out the advantage of some method of studying his own soil to discover its deficiencies and especial needs.

The purpose of the experiment on soil improvement is to compare the value of stable manure, chemical fertilizers, and green manures in restoring fertility to a soil that appears to be lacking in organic matter, and probably in available nitrogen—such a soil as is commonly spoken of as "poor" or "worn out." The results of the experiment of 1900 indicate a high value for clover when used to plow under.

In another article, Prof. Phelps describes a series of pot experiments, carried on for the purpose of verifying the results obtained. in the special nitrogen field experiments.

An article by Prof. Phelps on the study. of rations fed to milch cows summarizes very briefly the results of co-operative tests with dairy herds, made in different parts of the State, during the winters of 1892 and 1899, and gives the details of experiments with four herds during the winter of 18991900. The results of the latter experiments help to verify those of earlier studies, which point out the economy of feeding a larger proportion of protein than many farmers are in the habit of feeding.

An article by Prof. Atwater and some of his associates summarizes the results of a number of experiments on the metabolism of matter and energy in the human body made with men in respiration calorimeter. It includes the results of experiments made up to the close of the year 1900. This summary illustrates some of the ways in which the experiments are throwing light upon

such subjects as (1) the composition, digestibility and fuel value of different food materials; (2) the amounts of nutritive ingredients of food required by men at rest, and doing different amounts of work; (3) the proportions of water, carbonic acid, nitrogen compounds, and heat given off by the body under different circumstances of work and rest; (4) the income and outgo of energy of the body, and (5) the ways in which the body utilizes the material and energy of the food. The experiments practically demonstrate that the law of the conservation of energy obtains in the body. While they are of very abstract scientific character, they are bringing results of great value regarding the laws of nutrition, the nutritive values of foods, and the kind and amounts of food needed by people of different classes, with different kinds and amounts of work.

Chemical analyses of fodders and feeding stuffs made during the year are reported by Mr. A. P. Bryant. The determinations of the amounts of nitrates in some field crops are also included.

Professor Phelps reports the meteorological observations made under the direction of the station, both at Storrs and in cooperation with a number of farmers in different parts of the State. This article includes, also, a summary of the meteorological phenomena of the year, and a general review of the crop season.

The report will be sent free on application to the Agricultural Experiment Station, Storrs, Conn.

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WHETHER the disease be physical or moral-and physical disease is usually produced through moral transgression-it is a lamentable fact that the patient desires to have his ailment eradicated without any interference with the cause that produced it. He is willing to get outside of any amount of medicine, but very unwilling to change his habits or suffer any interference with his appetite and passion.-The Vampire.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON HYGIENE OF THE NEW YORK STATE MEDICAL SOCIETY.*

BY HENRY REED HOPKINS, CHAIRMAN, AND COLLEAGUES.

THE prominent topics emphasized in the recent reports of your committee, continue to be the subjects demanding the attention of the sanitarian.

The enormous death-rate from typhoid fever in the state attracts the attention of all well informed persons to the continued impurity of the water supply of the entire state, to the lack of intelligence and appreciation of this prime necessity of health, to the corresponding want of efficiency as hygienists of our medical profession.

That there is more than four times the morbility and mortality from typhoid fever, in the chief cities of this state, than in the large ciies of Europe, is a most humiliating

demonstration.

Your committee again directs attention to the fact that in the main the responsibility for this disgraceful state of impure water supply, and the consequent loss of time, money, and life from typhoid fever rests. upon the medical profession as the same is represented in the Medical Society of the State of New York, and calls upon the several local societies to make this question one of especial study to the end that those in authority may speedily be induced to apply the proper remedy.

The real sanatory problem of the daythan which there has been none more important in history, the prevention and cure of consumption by state control-has made slow but positive progress. The tactics of the enemies of the cause seem to have been to confuse, to distract, to delay, to obstruct by impossible suggestions of help. A state sanatorium for the treatment of cases of incipient consumption was demanded by abundant and conclusive experience, advised by this society and this demand was Read at the ninety-sixth annual meeting at Albany, January 28, 1902.

supported by overwhelming public sentiment. The selection of a site furnished the occasion for meddlesome and mischievous suggestions, an artificial activity of some self-styled friends of the cause, and required. much patience, wisdom and loyalty on the part of the right-minded members of the board of trustees, in order that a wrong choice might not ruin the enterprise at its beginning. The delay thus caused has been most exasperating and trying, but has given opportunity of testing how sane the movement is, how imperative is the demand on the part of the people, and of the futility of attempting to kill that which is demanded in the interests of the public health.

Your committee with all emphasis renew and reaffirm what it has heretofore declared as to the importance of this matter, and advise that this society renew its pledge of confidence and support to the cause of state promotion and cure of consumption in sanatoria as the state's highest duty and most glorious opportunity.

Your committee has given consideration to the recent increase of knowledge regarding the relation of some of the smaller insects to the spread of disease. The rôle of certain varieties of mosquitoes to the spread of malaria and yellow fever opens a vista for the prevention of these diseases of immense attractiveness and potentiality. It would seem that the near future is to demonstrate that some of the fairest portions of the earth, that have hitherto been thought unsuitable for Anglo-Saxon inhabitation, by reason of malarial endemicity are to be reclaimed, and that modern sanitary science is not only to drive yellow fever from off the earth as it has already been driven from Cuba and Porto Rico, but that by a knowledge of the ague-bearing mosquito, the sphere for Anglo-Saxon residence and activity is to be enormously expanded.

The continuous and unusual presence of smallpox in various parts of the state moves your committee to urge upon the society the importance of a more intelligent supervision of the results of vaccination, the importance of greater care and watchfulness in determ

ining that primary vaccinations are successful, in demading legislation requiring a general revaccination of all persons at puberty and after puberty, at least once in ten years, and that no child be permitted to attend any public or parochial school unless the same can show the marks of thorough vaccination.

Here your committee is minded to refer to, and to deplore and protest the policy of the present administration of the state in reference to the public health and the state board of health. Your committee has the conviction, that it is not good statesmanship to neglect or to minimize the ordi- . nary means found in operation in all civilized communities for the protection of the public health; and that in the whole history of extravagant and wasteful expenditure, there is nothing more extravagant and wasteful, than a penurious economy in appropriations for the prevention of the preventable diseases; that in the department of public health should ever be found men of the highest ideals and the noblest attainments, for the reason that the problems they encounter are the most intricate, trying and important that ever engaged the mind of man, and that it is of prime importance that the men of this department should be leaders of thought and always in full command of the confidence of the people.

How shallow is the intelligence, how thin the veneer of statesmanship, what a bar to real economy and progress is the policy which fixes the annual salary of the state. commissioner of health at $3,500 when the commissioner of fisheries and game gets $5,000; the state architect $7,500, and the three railroad commissioners $8,000 each? And how humiliating is the easy criticism of the politician, and sometimes law-maker, who asks, what does the state board of health do, and answers himself-Oh, they keep a record of the dead ones, and get well paid for their work!

The practical working of the unfortunate schisms in medicine is seen in destroying the public confidence even in medical measures for the protection of the people's lives, by

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