188 EXPEKIMENT STATION RECORD. 



there is a period during which the bacillus gradually loses its functions, but 

 still retains, at least in many instances, the power of regaining its original 

 pathogenic properties. In the third stage the bacillus develops as an aerobe, 

 but has lost its original characters entirely. 



Polyneuritis of chickens and beri-beri, a chronic oxalic-acid poisoning, 

 G. Maurer {MiincJieii. Med. WchiiscJir., oJ/ (1907), No. 1.5, p. 7.31). — In exper- 

 iments conducted by the author evidence is furnished that polyneuritis of 

 chickens is caused by chronic poisoning with oxalic acid. It was found that 

 when rice and other cereals were fed to excess after having the outer cqat re- 

 moved, the symptoms of polyneuritis developed. This is interpreted as mean- 

 ing that oxalic acid is not counteracted for the reason that its natural antidote, 

 lime, is largely removed with the outer coat of the grain. 



The germicidal value of liquor cresolis compositus (U. S. P.), C. N. 

 McBryde {U. 8. Dept. Agr., Bur. Anim. Indus. Bui. 100, pp. 24). — In the disin- 

 fection of cattle cars, the Bureau of Animal Industry has previously used a 

 mixture of lime and carbolic acid, but on account of some objections to this 

 disinfectant a test was made of liquor cresolis compositus, which is described 

 as a liquid soap containing 50 per cent of cresols. This disinfectant was carefully 

 tested by the drop and rod methods and compared with the efficiency of carbolic 

 acid alone and a mixture of carbolic acid and lime. In these comparative tests 

 it was found that carbolic acid was considerably dimhiished in germicidal 

 efficiency by the addition of lime. The bacteria used in comparing carbolic acid 

 and a mixture of the same disinfectant with lime were Staphylococcus pyogenes 

 aureus and the hog cholera bacillus. 



Liquor cresolis compositus, as described in the United States Pharmacopoeia, 

 contains 500 gm. of cresol, 350 gm. of linseed oil, SO gm. of potassium hydroxid, 

 and enough water to make 1,000 gm. In experiments with this mixture it was 

 soon found that the higher the boiling point of the cresol the more efficient the 

 disinfectant. Tests were made with a number of organisms, including Bacillus 

 pyocyaiieus, B. coli communis, B. typhosus, B. tuberculosis, and B. cholerce suis. 



Liquor cresolis compositus was found to be strongly germicidal for all of these 

 bacteria. It varies somewhat in its efficiency depending on the boiling point of 

 the cresol, but the germicidal value of the lowest form of cresol is li times 

 greater than that of carbolic acid. 



RURAL ECONOMICS. 



The initiative of the King of Italy and the International Institute of 

 Agriculture, A. de Viti de Marco et al. {L'Iniziativa del Re d' Italia e 

 ristitnto Inteniazionale d'Agricoltura. Rome: G. Bertero, 1905, pp. X+732; 

 rev. in Polit. Sci. Quart., 22 (1907), No. 2, pp. 5-^8-350 ) .—The information con- 

 tained in this treatise was compiled at the request of the King of Italy as a 

 basis for determining the best plan and constitution of a proposed international 

 institute of agriculture. The volume is divided into two parts. The material 

 presented in part 1 relates to the production and distribution of agricultural 

 products, the methods and advantages of irrigation, cooperative credit and 

 insurance societies, agricultural organizations, and other matters bearing on the 

 economic life of the rural population in Italy, France, Great Britain, United 

 States, Austria, Germany, and Holland. Statistics are given in detail on these 

 subjects up to the close of the year 1904. 



In part 2 are discussed the functions of an international institute of agricul- 

 ture by means of special articles on the following topics : The international 

 development of cooperation, by A. Bertolini ; the international development of 

 insurance against damage from hail, by U. Broggi ; the organization for market- 



