Die Ernahrung. Physiologie, Pathologie, Therapie

This book is divided into fourteen chapters, each written by a separate author. The titles are: Food Chemistry, Physiology of Nutrition, Food Technology, Malnutrition and Overeating, Dietetics, Physiology and Pathology of Child Nutrition, Nutrition of Population, Physiology of Vitamins, Symptoms and Therapy of A-avitaminosis, Symptoms and Therapy of E-avitaminosis, B-vitamins, Vitamin C, Rickets, Tetany, and Osteomalacia, Vitamin K. The two introductory chapters on Food Chemistry and Physiology of Nutrition give rather general information, the latter going beyond the limit of physiology and describing, for instance, the importance of particular foods such as milk and bread for good nutrition. The high oxalic content of cocoa (0.45-0.48% is mentioned. The chapters on malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies are highly specialized; they are based on clinical work and deal with the therapeutic applications of vitamins. The studies of malnutrition were made on prisoners of war returning home from Russia, and the author remarks that the degree of severity of starvation symptoms increased with the height and age of the subjects. The chapters on the vitamin B complex, vitamin C, and vitamin K are of a general type, describing the signs of deficiency and probable physiological r6le of the vitamins in question. The chapters on Food Technology and Dietetics represent a technical approach to the problems, the first one describing the advantages of various food processing techniques, the other evaluating a variety of diets in terms of their nutritive content. Because the contributions vary in scientific "level," the book as a whole gives the impression of lacking homogeneity, but as a collection of useful information and as a source of German literature on nutrition, it is a valuable supplement to a library of nutrition. W. A. KREHL