60 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECORD. 



longicauda), and meadowlark {Siurnella magna) ; net ticks (Dermacentor 

 occidental is), dwarf liermit thrush {Hylocichht guttata nana) ; castor-bean 

 ticks {Ixodes sp.), boat-tailed grackle (Megaquisoalus major), meadowlark, and 

 house wren {Troglodytes aedon) ; and Gamasus sp., the wren tit {Chamwa 

 fasciata).'" 



New predaceous and parasitic Acarina, H. E. Ewing {Psyche, 18 {1911), 

 No. 1, pp. Sl-JiS, pi. 1). — Several of the 8 species here described are of economic 

 importance, ])articularly Tydeus coccophagus, which was found in large numbers 

 attacking the oyster-shell scale during August, and Tarsonemus chionaspivorus, 

 taken from Chionaspis sp. on poplar, both at Ames, Iowa. 



A common sumach, gall produced by a mite, T. D. A. Cockerell {Science, 

 n. ser., S2 {1910), No. 831, pp. 796, 797').— A mite which produces gall masses 

 on Rhus glabra cismontana in Colorado is described as Eriophyes rhoinus n. sp. 



An introduction to the physiology of the Protozoa, S. von ProwazeTk 

 (Einfilhrung in die Physiologie der EinzelUgen {Protozoen). Lcipsic and 

 Berlin, 1910, pp. F/+i7.8, figs. 51). — A comprehensive work on the physiology 

 of the Protozoa. 



A monograph of the tapeworms of the subfamily Avitellinines, being a 

 revision of the genus Stilesia, and an account of the histology of Avitellina 

 centripunctata, L. K. Gough {Quart. Jour. Micros. Sci. [London], n. ser., 56 

 {1911), No. 222, pp. 317-385, pis. S, figs. 6).— In this monograph 4 species of 

 Stilesia are recognized, namely, gloMpunctata, vittata, hepatica, and sjostedti. 

 The genus Avitellina is erected for 8. centripunctata, which occurs in the small 

 ijitestine of sheep in Italy, Algeria, and South Africa. 



Tapeworms of South American Felidse, M. LtxiiE {Zool. Jalirb., 1910, Sup. 

 12, No. 3, pp. 687-710, j^ls. 2, figs. 8; abs. in Jour. Roy. Micros. Soc. [London], 

 1911, No. 1, p. 49). — The author finds that Tcenia oligarthra from Felis concolor 

 is nearly allied to T. echinococciis, and that Cysticercus macrocystis from Lepus 

 brasiliensis is the bladder-worm stage of a new tapeworm, T. macrocystis, from 

 species of Felis. T. omissa from F. concolor and from other species of Felis is 

 described as new. 



FOODS— HUMAN NUTRITION. 



A bacteriological study of ham souring, C. N. McBryde {U. 8. Dept. Agr., 

 Bur. Anim. Indus. Bui. 132, pp. 55, pis. 4, figs. 5). — From an extended investiga- 

 tion the author concludes that ham souring as encountered in the wet curing 

 process, where hams are entirely submerged in pickling fluids, is due to the 

 growth within the ham of an anaerobic bacillus {Bacillus putrefaciens n. sp,). 



This micro-organism was isolated and studied and its chai'acteristics de- 

 scribed. As the author points out, it belongs to the class of putrefactive 

 anaerobes which are widely distributed in nature in dust, soil, and excrementi- 

 tious matters, and as it or its spores may be present in the dust and dirt of 

 packing houses, the hams may become contaminated in the various manipula- 

 tions to which they are subjected. 



"A preliminary study of the chemical changes ■which take place in the process 

 of souring shows that these changes are of a putrefactive nature, and ham 

 souring, as ordinarily encountered, is to be regarded as an incipient putrefac- 

 tion. Hams which had been artiflcially soured by the injections of culture were 

 compared with sour hams obtained from the packing house, and the putrefactive 

 changes were found to be identical. 



" Hams which have once become sour can never be restored to a sound 

 condition, because of the chemical changes which result from the growth of the 

 bacillus. , , , 



