this is regarded as trustworthy is evidenced by the fact that it was honored with a prize, offered by an association and awarded by a committee, consisting of Professors Voit, Forster, and Beneke, three of the best known German authorities in this specialty. It tells in plain language about foods, their constituents, the proportions of the several nutrients in various foods, the relative cheapness and dearness of different food materials as shown by the comparison of their composition with their price, and with the rest gives schedules of daily rations for families. There are three of these schedules, the first intended for a family with an annual income of 800 marks, or $200, of which it is assumed that 60 per cent will be expended for food. The second is for a family with an income of 1,100 marks, or $275, and the third for one of 1,500 marks, or $375 per annum. The outlay for the food of each of the last two is to be about 53 per cent of the income. As the largest of the three incomes would be counted very small with us I have selected the schedule corresponding to it rather than either of the others for the translation which I have caused to be made and include herewith.

DIETARY FOR A FAMILY FOR TWO WEEKS.

The following dietary is calculated for a family consisting of father, mother, and two children of ten and twelve years of age. The annual income for the support of the family is taken at 1,500 marks, or $375, of which 53 per cent, 800 marks, or $200 per year, which would make 220 pfennigs, or 55 cents per day, is to be spent for food. It is assumed that the mother and two children will require as much nutritive material in their food as two laboring men, so that the family of four persons will be equal in their demand to three laboring men. Dr. Meinert further assumes that to earn so large a sum as 1,500 marks per year, more than ordinarily hard work will be required, and hence, following Professor Voit's figures for rations, he provides for a ration with nutrients a little in excess of the standard for a laboring man at moderate work. Professor Voit's. standards for an ordinary laboring man doing moderately hard work, and for the same man at severe work, are stated below, and with them Dr. Meinert's standard for the family in question.

As the family are counted equivalent to three "laboring men," the 220 pfennigs allowed for food per day must pay for three rations, which gives 73.3 pfennigs per ration. The problem, then, is to draw up a bill of fare for each day, which shall furnish a minimum of 120 grams, or 0.27 pound, of protein; 70 grams, or 0.15 pound, of fats, and 500 grams, or 1.10 pounds of carbohydrates, for 73.3 pfennigs, or 18 cents per day, in food materials, such as a German laborer may properly use, and at such prices as he must pay for them.

The details of the daily bills of fare are given by Dr. Meinert in the forms translated beyond. The quantities are given in the metric weights and measures current in Germany. It will be remembered that the kilogram consists of 1,000 grams and equals about 2.2 pounds; that the gram is nearly 15.5 grains, and, roughly speaking, 450 grams make a pound and 28 grams an ounce. The liter is 1,000 cubic centimeters, a little over a quart; a liter of water weighs one kilogram. The mark consists of 100 pfennigs, and is worth about 25 cents, so that the pfennig is one quarter of a cent. Translating these into our own weights and measures would, I think, rather detract from than add to their clearness and value. In their present form they are simple, but would by recalculation become more complex. In the summary at the end, the quantities and prices are given in American weights and money.

In translating, I will for convenience speak of the first and second breakfast together as breakfast. The midday and evening meals we will call dinner and supper, and will follow Dr. Meinert's example in including the afternoon lunch with breakfast.

In this dietary, Dr. Meinert gives first a general schedule for breakfast and lunch, which (or its equivalent) is to serve for each of the fourteen days. The schedule for dinner and supper for each several day is given by

RATIONS OF COMMON FOOD MATERIALS ESTIMATED TO CONTAIN THE AMOUNTS OF NUTRITIVE INGREDIENTS IN THE STANDARD RATION, WITH COST OF EACH.

The following rations have been calculated by my assistant, Mr. Rockwood, mostly from results of analyses made in our laboratory in behalf of the Smithsonian Institution (United States National Museum), as a basis for explanations of its food collection. No other considerable series of analyses of American food materials has; so far as I am aware, been executed; hence, though the data are meager, they are the best available. They are probably not far out of the way. Mr. Rockwood has endeavored to construct one series of rations at a very low cost, 11 or 12 cents a day, or thereabouts, and another series at higher rates, up to 45 cents a day. Of course, it is not proposed that any person or family should attempt to follow these exactly; for that matter, the chemist will evidently have to consult the cook if he proposes to construct dietaries to accord with ordinary tastes. The rations will, nevertheless, help to show how foods may be economized, and what proportions would suffice for the nourishment of ordinary people, and what are the constituents and costs of the different materials. They are estimated to supply very nearly the amounts of nutrients in Voit's standard ration for a laboring man at moderate work: