=Beer and Alcoholic Beverages.=--For generations beer has been highly regarded as an antiscorbutic. Captain Cook prized it greatly and always supplied his men with a freshly-made infusion of malt called "sweetwort." Lind writes: "Beer and fermented liquors of any sort will be found the best antiscorbutic remedies" (p. 76). He refers at different times to the value of spruce beer, ale, wine and other vinous liquors. In his excellent book on "Military Hygiene," Munson writes: "Good beer and wine have decided value, also vinegar." On the other hand, recent scientific experiment has shown that beer has practically no antiscorbutic value. There is but one study on this subject, that of Harden and Zilva, which is quite convincing. They found that guinea-pigs and monkeys developed scurvy in spite of the fact that they received, respectively, 50 c.c. and 180 c.c. of beer daily. They conclude, as a result of their experiments, that "bottled ale and stout and fined beer as brought on to the market, are lacking both in antineuritic and antiscorbutic accessory factors, and that kilned material is also wanting in these two principles." The apparent contradiction between practical experience and laboratory investigation in regard to beer is due to a difference in the process of brewing. Cook and Lind and the older authors refer to freshly-made beer, whereas the modern beer which was tested in the laboratory was made from "high-dried" material. The antiscorbutic potency of beer as formerly used was due to its preparation from freshly-germinated grain and its consumption shortly after brewing. Dyke tells us of an interesting incident illustrating the importance of this distinction. In the recent war an outbreak of scurvy occurred among the Kaffir labor battalion in France. At home these natives consume a large amount, as much as three gallons a day, of Kaffir beer, which is made from freshly-germinated corn, and is consumed shortly after it is made. The French prepared a similar fermented beverage for their South African laborers, the sole difference in preparation being that the process of germination had been omitted for reasons of convenience. Scurvy resulted, a disorder which is practically unknown among the natives at home. =Miscellaneous Foodstuffs.=--During the past few years a great many different kinds of foods have been tested in the laboratory for their antiscorbutic value. It will be well for completeness' sake to say a word about them, although they have been found to possess little or no antiscorbutic properties. The studies of Holst and Froelich showed definitely that all the cereals--oat, barley, rye, maize, and preparations made from the bran or from the endosperm--are devoid of antiscorbutic vitamine. Cohen and Mendel added 3 per cent. of calcium lactate or sodium chloride, or 5 per cent. of butter, without enhancing the value of oats in this respect.