384 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



In a discussion of the subject Alsber^," of tlie Bureau of Plant 

 Industry of the Department of Af;ricuhure, considers the possible 

 connection between peMafi;ra and the market in<jj of immature or 

 imperfectly cured corn, believing that such corn would be especially 

 favorable for the growth of micro-organisms. He also believes that 

 varieties of corn with a small proportion of germ should be cultivated, 

 as the high proportion of fat in the germ is also regarded as a favor- 

 able condition for the growth of certain types of micro-organisms. 



Pellagra, with special reference to dietetics in public institutions, 

 has been studied by Buhlig,'' Siler, and Nichols" at a state hospital 

 for the insane in Illinois, but final conclusions have not as yet been 

 reached. In the report of this work it is pointed out that the corn 

 used in the institution diet was of good quality, and, moreover, that 

 it did not constitute any large proportion of the institution diet. In 

 connection with studies of moldy com, cooked as well as raw corn 

 was included, since some molds are known to be very resistant to 

 heat and the idea has been advanced that molds or other micro- 

 oriranisms mijrht survive the heat of cooking and be the cause of 

 disease. According to the report, a few experiments were made with 

 corn-meal mush and hominy made in the usual way at the institution 

 by boiling about two hours. "We can not see how anything living 

 can withstand such treatment and our two cultures of corn meal and 

 two of hominy on gelatin bore us out by being sterile after several 

 weeks." 



Various questions which have to do with sanitation of food manu- 

 factories, bake shops, and markets, and with the general subject of 

 food adulteration or use of preservatives and related questions, may 

 also be appropriately mentioned in this connection. The national 

 pure-food work is centered in the Bureau of Chemistry of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, while that carried on in individual States is 

 very generally assigned to the agricultural experiment stations or to 

 state boards of health. The subject is so large and the work reported 

 is so extended that any adequate consideration of it would require 

 a special summary. A matter of great importance in connection 

 with the hygiene of foods is meat inspection. The Bureau of Animal 

 Industry of the Department of Agriculture is charged with the carry- 

 ing on of the federal meat-inspection service, and the subject is con- 

 sidered in publications of the Bureau. In an article by Farrington <* 

 it is urged that such inspection should be extended to include the 

 meat slaughtered for local consumption and therefore not subject to 

 federal inspection, since it is not designed for interstate commerce. 



o N. Y. Med. Jour, and Phila. Med. Jour., 90 (1909), p. 50. 



b Mo. Bui. 111. Bd. Health, 5 (1909), No. 7, p. 417. 



c Mo. Bui. III. Bd. Health, 5 (1909;), No. 7, p. 437. 



d U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Anim. Indus. Rpt. 1909, p. 82. 



