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Plant proteins in child feeding
BOOK
REVIEWS
233
In “The Relation of Complement to the Nitrogen Bound by Antigen-Antibody Precipitates,” R. G. S. Johns describes some ingenious experiments and advances several provocative ideas. He is, however, too ready to challenge and too vulnerable, in turn, to challenge. It would appear futile to object to a method because it “requires meticulous attention to detail”: anyone who fails so to occupy himself in research on complement (C’) is defeated before he begins. In challenging the concept of the components of C’ Johns ignores Ferrata’s classical separation of C’ by simple dialysis into an insoluble and soluble component, each separately inactive hemolytically, but active when recombined. Nor is there evidence that for hemolysis “many more hemolysin molecules than C’ entities are required,” so that this alone removes the basis for the theory of hemolysis presented. It is also rather disheartening to find that while the Heidelberger (actually Heidelberger, Weil, and Treffers) theory “must be discarded” because in preformed precipitates any C’ taken up by passage into the interstices must also be free to leave by the same route, Johns’s variant of the same theory is tenable only because C’ going into the same interstices is assumed not to be free to leave! As a whole, the monograph furnishes a concise and generally excellent survey of a limited number of aspects of the broad field of immunochemistry. MICHAEL HEIDELBERGER,N~~ York,New York Plant Proteins in Child Feeding. By R. F. A. DEAN. Med. Res. Council, Spec. Rep. Ser. 279. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, 1953. Price $2.25. It is probably surprising for most readers of this journal living on the North American continent to hear that after malaria, protein malnutrition is the most urgent problem of public health in the world at large. To a large extent, this regrettable situation is due to lack of animal protein and, in particular, to lack of cow’s milk. It is very correctly and succinctly stated in the preface of the monograph under review that “one of the most important roles played by cow’s milk in the feeding of children is to supplement the rest of the diet. Children who have enough milk are usually healthy and grow well. There are many parts of the world, however, where milk is scarce, and the development of other foods which would have the same general effects as milk, but which could be easily and cheaply prepared from locally available raw materials would, therefore, be of great practical value. The urgency of this need has led in recent years to an increasing consideration of the possibility of using combinations of plant products for this purpose.” It may be added that distribution and import of skimmed milk in tropical countries as admirably executed during the last few years by United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) may have its emergency value but cannot solve the local problem. Dean is on the right track when he advocates a combination of locally available plant proteins. After his previous experience in the postwar years in Germany, he is at present strategically placed as head of a research group at Kampala, Uganda. His views are critical and at the same time also positive and approaching feasibility. In the first part of his monograph, Dean discusses the principles, past experience, and an account of some complicating factors in assessing the biological value of proteins. Still the most perplexing and unresolved puzzle in the whole problem of
234
BOOK
REVIEWS
protein malnutrition is the fact that human milk, in spite of its relatively very low protein content-on the average 1.2%-is the best food for the human infant in the prevention of protein malnutrition (Kwashiorkor). Dean discusses these and similar problems with particular emphasis on the practical use of mixtures of plant proteins in order to maint,ain a normal nutritional state. Part II of the monograph deals in detail with experiments in the use of plant preparations, including clinical studies carried out chiefly in postwar Germany. To everybody who is interested in these nutritional, socioeconomic, agriculturalchemical problems, as well as in protein metabolism, study of this monograph is highly recommended. The well organized index is a new and very useful addition to this type of Special Reports of the British Medical Research Council. PAUL GY~RGY, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Vitamins and Hormones: Advances in Research and Applications. Volume XI. Edited by ROBERT S. HARRIS, G. F. MARRIAN, and KENNETH V. THIMANN, Academic Press Inc., New York, N. Y., 1953. x + 356 pp. Price $8.00. With the enormous increase in the publication of scientific research and the mul.tiplication of journals that has accompanied this, it is difficult, often, for the specialist to keep abreast of all the publications in his own limited field. Were it not for detailed and thoughtful reviews of the type that characterize this excellent series, it would be virtually impossible for investigators to learn the advances in more distant areas that may provoke their scientific curiosity and broaden the scope of their work. The current volume of Vitamins and Hormones continues the high standard of excellence established in the preceding numbers of the series. of Ascorbic Acid in Plants,” by L. W. Among the topics covered are: “Function Mapson, presenting in detail the interaction of ascorbic acid with various enzyme systems. R. Nicolaysen and N. EEg-Larsen writing on “The Biochemistry and Physiology of Vitamin D” give an excellent description of the comparative biochemistry of rickets and a survey of the metabolic role of vitamin D in this disorder. The chapter on “The Physiologv and Biochemistry of Ascorbic Acid,” by A. P. Meiklejohn, is an excellent summary of the topic written in a highly individualistic style. The “Comment” at the end of this article was particularly interesting to this reviewer. “The Endocrine Disturbances in Chronic Human Malnutrition,” by S. Zubiran and F. Gbmez-Mont, is an excellent discussion of an important problem dealing, for the most part, with the author’s investigations but with adequate references to pertinent literature. E. P. Ralli and M. E. Dumm deal with the “Relation of Pantothenic Acid to Adrenal Cortical Function,” a thoughtful and considered attempt to bring together a large body of evidence. The chapter on “Recent Knowledge of the Biochemistry of the Thyroid gland,” by J. Gross and R. Pitt-Rivers, reviews in authoritative fashion the most recent information on triiodothyronine and its relation to thyroxine. “The Evaluation of Procedures for Cytological Localization of Ketosteroids,” by H. W. Deane and A. M. Seligman, is an excellent summary of the difficulties encountered in the attempt to study biochemistry at the subcellular level. The final chapter on the “Synthesis of Cortisone and Related Steroids,” by C. Djerassi, is a concise and authoritative survey of the most recent advances in this highly active field.
REVIEWS
233
In “The Relation of Complement to the Nitrogen Bound by Antigen-Antibody Precipitates,” R. G. S. Johns describes some ingenious experiments and advances several provocative ideas. He is, however, too ready to challenge and too vulnerable, in turn, to challenge. It would appear futile to object to a method because it “requires meticulous attention to detail”: anyone who fails so to occupy himself in research on complement (C’) is defeated before he begins. In challenging the concept of the components of C’ Johns ignores Ferrata’s classical separation of C’ by simple dialysis into an insoluble and soluble component, each separately inactive hemolytically, but active when recombined. Nor is there evidence that for hemolysis “many more hemolysin molecules than C’ entities are required,” so that this alone removes the basis for the theory of hemolysis presented. It is also rather disheartening to find that while the Heidelberger (actually Heidelberger, Weil, and Treffers) theory “must be discarded” because in preformed precipitates any C’ taken up by passage into the interstices must also be free to leave by the same route, Johns’s variant of the same theory is tenable only because C’ going into the same interstices is assumed not to be free to leave! As a whole, the monograph furnishes a concise and generally excellent survey of a limited number of aspects of the broad field of immunochemistry. MICHAEL HEIDELBERGER,N~~ York,New York Plant Proteins in Child Feeding. By R. F. A. DEAN. Med. Res. Council, Spec. Rep. Ser. 279. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, 1953. Price $2.25. It is probably surprising for most readers of this journal living on the North American continent to hear that after malaria, protein malnutrition is the most urgent problem of public health in the world at large. To a large extent, this regrettable situation is due to lack of animal protein and, in particular, to lack of cow’s milk. It is very correctly and succinctly stated in the preface of the monograph under review that “one of the most important roles played by cow’s milk in the feeding of children is to supplement the rest of the diet. Children who have enough milk are usually healthy and grow well. There are many parts of the world, however, where milk is scarce, and the development of other foods which would have the same general effects as milk, but which could be easily and cheaply prepared from locally available raw materials would, therefore, be of great practical value. The urgency of this need has led in recent years to an increasing consideration of the possibility of using combinations of plant products for this purpose.” It may be added that distribution and import of skimmed milk in tropical countries as admirably executed during the last few years by United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) may have its emergency value but cannot solve the local problem. Dean is on the right track when he advocates a combination of locally available plant proteins. After his previous experience in the postwar years in Germany, he is at present strategically placed as head of a research group at Kampala, Uganda. His views are critical and at the same time also positive and approaching feasibility. In the first part of his monograph, Dean discusses the principles, past experience, and an account of some complicating factors in assessing the biological value of proteins. Still the most perplexing and unresolved puzzle in the whole problem of
234
BOOK
REVIEWS
protein malnutrition is the fact that human milk, in spite of its relatively very low protein content-on the average 1.2%-is the best food for the human infant in the prevention of protein malnutrition (Kwashiorkor). Dean discusses these and similar problems with particular emphasis on the practical use of mixtures of plant proteins in order to maint,ain a normal nutritional state. Part II of the monograph deals in detail with experiments in the use of plant preparations, including clinical studies carried out chiefly in postwar Germany. To everybody who is interested in these nutritional, socioeconomic, agriculturalchemical problems, as well as in protein metabolism, study of this monograph is highly recommended. The well organized index is a new and very useful addition to this type of Special Reports of the British Medical Research Council. PAUL GY~RGY, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Vitamins and Hormones: Advances in Research and Applications. Volume XI. Edited by ROBERT S. HARRIS, G. F. MARRIAN, and KENNETH V. THIMANN, Academic Press Inc., New York, N. Y., 1953. x + 356 pp. Price $8.00. With the enormous increase in the publication of scientific research and the mul.tiplication of journals that has accompanied this, it is difficult, often, for the specialist to keep abreast of all the publications in his own limited field. Were it not for detailed and thoughtful reviews of the type that characterize this excellent series, it would be virtually impossible for investigators to learn the advances in more distant areas that may provoke their scientific curiosity and broaden the scope of their work. The current volume of Vitamins and Hormones continues the high standard of excellence established in the preceding numbers of the series. of Ascorbic Acid in Plants,” by L. W. Among the topics covered are: “Function Mapson, presenting in detail the interaction of ascorbic acid with various enzyme systems. R. Nicolaysen and N. EEg-Larsen writing on “The Biochemistry and Physiology of Vitamin D” give an excellent description of the comparative biochemistry of rickets and a survey of the metabolic role of vitamin D in this disorder. The chapter on “The Physiologv and Biochemistry of Ascorbic Acid,” by A. P. Meiklejohn, is an excellent summary of the topic written in a highly individualistic style. The “Comment” at the end of this article was particularly interesting to this reviewer. “The Endocrine Disturbances in Chronic Human Malnutrition,” by S. Zubiran and F. Gbmez-Mont, is an excellent discussion of an important problem dealing, for the most part, with the author’s investigations but with adequate references to pertinent literature. E. P. Ralli and M. E. Dumm deal with the “Relation of Pantothenic Acid to Adrenal Cortical Function,” a thoughtful and considered attempt to bring together a large body of evidence. The chapter on “Recent Knowledge of the Biochemistry of the Thyroid gland,” by J. Gross and R. Pitt-Rivers, reviews in authoritative fashion the most recent information on triiodothyronine and its relation to thyroxine. “The Evaluation of Procedures for Cytological Localization of Ketosteroids,” by H. W. Deane and A. M. Seligman, is an excellent summary of the difficulties encountered in the attempt to study biochemistry at the subcellular level. The final chapter on the “Synthesis of Cortisone and Related Steroids,” by C. Djerassi, is a concise and authoritative survey of the most recent advances in this highly active field.