SCIENCE CONGRESS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 14 August 1924, Page 7

SCIENCE CONGRESS.

. REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTION. INFLUENCE OF FOOD. BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT OTTAWA. Aug. 12. A telegram from Toronto says that an interesting pronouncement in the discussion of the sectional sessions of the British Association for the Advancement of Science was that of Professor Herbert Evans, of the University of California, in which he claimed the discovery of a mysterious component of diet which was essential for the performance of the reoroductive function.

Professor Evans, reporting on researches in a symposium on vita-mines, said that synthetic food mixtures, containing adequate amounts of sugar, fat, salts, and previously known vitaniines, will produce normal growth and apparent health in rodents, but they lead to the occurrence of sterility when the vitamine is present in leaves, grains, and meats. “Sterility is a specific dietary disease, which, may he prevented or cured by certain natural foodstuffs, but is unaffected by others.” declared Professor Evans

Dr. E. Mellandy (London) claimed that phosphates, long considered to be the controlling and necessary factor for the proper growth of bone, are really only of secondary value. He said he performed experiments on this by varying the diet of dogs. Added interest fwas given to the activities of the world famous scientists when the International Mathematical Congress, gathering for the first time on this side of the Atlantic, opened its annual session. The congress at its first, meeting recognised the work of Canadian men of science by choosing Dr. C. J. Field, of Toronto U niversity, as president for the year. A further honour was bestowed on Canada by the selection of Professor ,T. L. Synge, of Toronto, and Professor L. V. King' of the McGill University, Montreal, as secretaries.