1058 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



The ABC and X Y Z of bee culture, A. I. and E. R. Root {Medina, 

 Ohio, 1908, pp. 536, flgs. J52).— This book bas already been noted from a pre- 

 vious edition (E, S. R., 15, p. 280). In the present edition tbe volnine is con- 

 siderably enlarged and the A^arious articles relating to various aspects of bee 

 culture have been brought down to date. 



The etiology of flaccidity in silkworms, H. Nomura (Separate from Atti 

 1st. Bot. Univ. Pavia, n. ser., 9 (1006), pp. 23).— According to the investigations 

 reported by the author the disease known as flaccidity in silkworms is due to 

 Baeilhts alvci. This organism has been isolated from cases of flaccidity and 

 tbe characteristic symptoms of the disease have been reproduced by inoculation. 

 Infection takes place in most cases with the food of the silkworm. B. alrci is 

 pathogenic for various other insects in addition to the silkworm. The disease 

 referred to by the author under the uame flaccidity is held to be distinct from 

 emaciation. 



International catalogue of scientific literature. Nt— Zoology (Inter nat. 

 Cat. Sci. Lit., 5 (1907), pts. 1, pp. XI+1259; 2, pp. T ///+5.)8).— In the present 

 issue the zoological literature of 1905 is included, together with a number of 

 titles of papers published in 1901-1904 and omitted from previous issues. The 

 author entries were not collected in one volume but are divided into sections 

 on each branch of the general subject of zoology. 



FOODS— HUMAN NUTRITION. 



Chemical analysis and composition of American honeys, C. A. Browne 

 (U. S. Dcpt. Ayr., Bur. Chem. Bui. 110, pp. 1-69, 89-93, pi. 1, fig. i).— A large 

 number of samples of native honeys were studied to secure data regarding the 

 composition of this class of honeys, to establish a general range for the varia- 

 tion in the composition of American honeys for the convenience of food chem- 

 ists, and to improve, if possible, the methods of honey analysis. The sources 

 of honey, the methods followed, and the analytical data are reported in detail, 

 while the results of the analyses of a large number of commercial honeys are 

 also summarized. 



As regards the composition of the native honeys, when arranged in groups 

 according to their source the results usually show a " well-defined agreement in 

 composition between the individual honeys of each particular class. The alfalfa 

 honeys, for example, are usually marked by a lower content in dextrin and 

 undetermined matter, and a higher sucrose content than any of the other 

 varieties. In fact, two of the eight alfalfa honeys analyzed exceeded 8 per 

 cent of sucrose, the limit set by the standards committee. The relatively high 

 purity (low content in dextrins and undetermined matter) of the alfalfa honeys 

 was shared, but to a less degree, by other members of the Leguminosae. 



" The honeys of the Compositie were about the average as regards organic 

 non-sugars. The Rosacese were low in dextrin, but all high in uudetermined 

 matter. The buckwheats seem characterized by an almost entire absence of 

 sucrose and by the presence of tannin bodies. The basswood honeys were all 

 relatively high in dextrin. This was also true of the sumacs, the poplar, oak, 

 hickory, and other tree honeys, all these containing considerable quantities of 

 honeydew. In addition to a high dextrin content, the latter were also charac- 

 terized by a relatively high amount of ash. Honey gathered from plants 

 or blossoms containing tannin, as the sumac and hop, usually gave pronounced 

 reactions for tannin. The tupelo, mungrove, and sage honeys were all distin- 

 guished by their high content of levulose. Individual differences and pecu- 

 liarities such as those noted can only be referred to in a very general way; the 

 number of samples analyzed were so small for many of the varieties, and the 

 admixture of other kinds of nectar in certain instances so uncertain that it 



