n 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS 



jANtTAEY 20, 1912. 



EDITORIAL NOTICES. 



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^griciilturat ^nuii 



Vol. XL SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 1912. No. 254. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



Oontents of Present Issue. 



The subject dealt with in the editorial of the 

 present issue is The Use of Latex in Plants. This gives 

 attention to considerations other than those ai'ising from 

 the fact that .such late.x often contains rubber. 



An interesting article on the poisoning of cattle 

 by sorghum appears on page 21. 



On page 23, a table is given which presents informa- 

 tion concerning the production of cotton in the West 

 Indies, during the crop season 1910-11. 



The Insect Notes will be found on page 26. They 

 deal with information that has been compiled concern- 

 ing^ the occurrence of insect pests in the Lesser Antilles 

 during last year. 



The Students' Corner, on page 29, contains part 

 of the questions that were set for the recent examina- 

 tions conducted in connexion with the Courses of 

 Reading of the Department. The remainder of the 

 questions will be given in succeeding numbers of the 

 Agricultural Nctis. 



The Fungus Notes are contained on pages 30 and 

 31. They give a report on the occurrence of fungus 

 diseases in the Lesiser Antilles during the years 1910 

 and 1911. 



An interesting article, attbrding information con- 

 cerning the weights of seeds from Para rubber trees, is 

 presented on page 31. 



Assimilation of the Nitrogen of the Air by Fungi. 

 The Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club for 

 1911, p 13-5, contains an account of trials that were 

 conducted with Penicilliiun, Aspergillus niger, Alter- 

 nnria and three species of Fusarium, for the purpose of 

 deierniining if nitrogen froui the air is fixed by these 

 fungi. The results were negative in all cases, and the 

 snggfstion is made that the different experience of 

 others who have made trial of ihe matter has arisen from 

 errors in the manner of c;nryir.g nut the work, or from 

 confusion as to the actual fungi which formed the sub- 

 jects (if the experimentation. Support is given to the 

 l-itter supposition by the ciicumstance that it appears 

 that nitrogen can be fixed by some strains of fungi; 

 while others that are very similar do not possess the 

 property. 



A Newly Described Factor in Nutrition. 



Recent wurk by investigators has demonstrated the 

 existence of substnnces that are contained in the outer 

 protoplasmic layer of all ceils, which are soluble in 

 organic solvents, much in the same way as fats. Their 

 presence appears to be necessary to the life-processes 

 that take plnce in the protoplasm, and they are par- 

 ticularly abundant in the nerve tissues. Most of them 

 contain both phosphorus and nitrogen, but little is 

 known as to their constitution and properties. They 

 are termed Lipoids. A note in Nature for Novem- 

 ber 30, 1911, p. 157, draws attention to information 

 concerning lipoids which appeared in Part V of the Zeit- 

 sclirift f("'r Biolugie, where it is pointed out that indi- 

 cations have been obtained that the presence of certain 

 constituents, in very small quantity, is necessary in 

 diets in addition to proteids, carbohydrates, fats and 

 mineral suits. The view of the matter has received 

 recent support in experiments that have been conducted 

 with rice in connexion with the disease known as 

 beri-beri. 



In the work described in the latter-mentioned 

 publication, food was given to mice after it had been 

 extracted very thoroughly with alcohol and ether; the 

 result was that the animals died, and the indication 

 was thus obtained that some essential constituent had 

 been takes from the food. Even when mineral salts 

 and fats (the latter of which had been removed by the 

 extraction witli ether) weie added to the treated food, 

 this was foune] to be still iticajiable of supjiorting 

 life. On the other hand, however, when the alcohol 

 and ether were evaporated from the extracted sub- 

 stances, and the latter were added to the treated food, 

 the mice to which it was administered continued to live. 



It was pnived, further, that the essential substance, 

 or substances, is present in milk, by adding this to food 

 that had received treatment with alcohol and ether; 

 then mice wei e fed successfully on the mixture, and 

 were still in g9od condition at the end of six weeks. 



Certain of the lipoids have been obtained in 

 a pure state, but as has been indicated, little has been 

 ascertained as to their constitution. 



If the conclusions reached so far are supported, the 

 subject of nutrition will require to be treated in a differ- 

 ent manner from that which has been adopted in the 

 past. 



