Evening star., 1942-06-02
Of Stars, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henri.

By Thomas r. Henry.
A great part of the world may have to
60 on vegetarian diet after the war.
This is the opinion of some OF Eng
lands foremost experts on human food
requirements and agricultural produc-
ton who met in London last month to
consider the titanic problem of feeding
the earth's teeming and starving mil
lions as soon as the struggle ends
Spain and China already are victims
of the great famine, it was pointed out.
Russia may suffer a worse one than fol-
lowed the last war and perhaps most of
continental Europe and Asia, farm lands
ruined. Will be in the same condition, the
experts stressed.
theoretically, an adult human being
requires at least enough food to provide
$500 calories of body heat and energy a
day. This is supplied by almost any diet
sufhcient to satisfy the appetite, al
though many millions In various parts
of the world do not have that much most
Of the time
But there Is serious question, it was
realized. whether all the earth's intact
agricultural land can supply even an &C
ceptaole percentage Of this figure for
everybody after the war unless far
reaching changes are introduced
Says the official organ Of the British
Association for the Advancement of
Science In summing up the results of the
deliberations: Actually the world as
whole never has produced too many
calories for human food. Now the largest
number can be obtained from a given
area II crops are grown that can be eaten
by human beings. II feeding stuffs are
grown and used to feed animals the re-
turn. in terms of calories, Is poor. An
acre under potatoes will produce some
100000 calories for human consump-
ton and some 100000 if under wheat.
1t will only produce ESQ., 900 calories il
used as grass land for feeding beef cattle
and two-thirds of a million If used to
feed mich cows.
Animals, like human beings. use I'D
the greater part OF their food TO supply
their daily needs of energy and store
only small surplus as flesh. During
periods when calories are short, no more
animals should be kept than are needed
to maintain the fertility of the soil-sup-
posing no substitute is found-and to
meet the special needs OF human beings
that are not well supplied by vegetables"
Admittedly, say the British Associa-
ton experts. meat contains some SUBJ
stances which cannot be supplied by
vegetables. especially in the form of
| proteins, the nitrogen-containing sub
stances which build up tissue and
muscle But recent experiments have
shown that wheat protein may be mixed
with a small amount of animal protein
and have the same value as an equal
weight OF all-animal protein.
But, the authorities continue milk is
In class by itself. The protein of milk
has high biological value. Cows con-
centrate calcium and the vitamin ribo-
favin in their milk. They return the
carotene of their food mainly as pre-
formed vitamin A, which is better alb
sorbed by human beings Mich COWS
are by far the most efficient converters
OF vegetable feeding stuf1s into valuable
| food for human consumption. In times
OF shortage they are the only animals
| which should be allowed to compete with
human beings for food. Other animals
male calves, for example-should be
! killed young"
| Perhaps the greatest danger, it was
| pointed out by Dr. Geoffrey Bourne of
| Oxford University. is of a widespread
! failure Of the potato crop in Europe.
! This would necessitate providing ade-
| quate amounts of synthetic vitamin C
to millions of persons. There are not
| now adequate facilities for making this,
and in addition there would be the
| almost impossible problem of distribu-
ton. The situation may be met in part,
he said, by extensive storing every
where possible of orange, lemon and
| grapefruit concentrates.
| A new form of sulfathiazole. probably
the most widely applicable of the sulfa
drugs, for use inside the body has been
reported to the American Medical Asso-
citation by four Philadelphia physicians.
They have found, they say, that when
crystals of this drug are subjected to
ultrasonic waves, sound waves consid-
erably above the level of hearing, they
are split up into minute crystals of uni
form size which can be injected to
| site of injury with hypodermic needle.
This makes possible for the first time
| a concentration of the drug at a pos
sible site of infection not on the surface
Of the body.
Production of these so-called micro
crystals" was joint enterprise of the
University of Pennsylvania and the
| United States Naval Hospital at Phila-
delphia. 1t is reported by Drs. Leslie A.
| Chambers. T. N. Harris, Francis Schu-
mann and L. X. Ferguson.
1t long has been recognized. they
point out, that one cf the best guards
against infection of a superficial wound
! is to sprinkle it with one of the sulfa
drugs in powdered form. This proved
one of the greatest life savers for Ameri-
can wounded at Pearl Harbor.