FOODS HUMAN NUTRITION. 1161 



Report on experiments with a proprietary remedy for cattle ticks, F. T.a- 

 HiLi.R (/?o/. .l/(/(. A(;r. [niinios Ai/rrs], S {lim), No. J-.'/, pi}. S) 1-^3^9). —X pro- 

 priet;iry tit-k remedy, the auiilysis of which is not Kiven, was tested as a dip 

 for cattle infested with ticks. The results were rather encourafiins in that from 

 00 to 70 i>er cent of the ticks were killed without ap]):irent injury to the cattle. 



Notes on the tastes of bees in color, Scott-Elliot (Trans, and Jour, Pror, 

 Dunifrirs.sliirc and (jalloiraj/ Nat. JJi.st. and Antuiittirinn Noc., 18 il90-')-G), pt. J, 

 pp. 141-1 J/S). — In early spring when there are liut few Howers in bloom these 

 flowers are visited by all kinds of insects which seem to make no distinction of 

 color. Later, however, wlien there is a greater variety of flowers for choice 

 the author maintains that bees show a decided preference for bright blue or red 

 flowers. 



FOODS— HUMAN NUTRITION. 



studies of the toughness of meat and its cause, Iv. B. IjEhmann et al. (Arch. 

 Hyg., 63 (1907), \o. 2, pp. J3.'i-179, pys. 2). — Apparatus is described which is 

 designed to measure the relative toughness of meat and other foods, more par- 

 ticularly the resistance of meat to a cutting surface as in chewing. By means 

 of this apparatus the comparative resistance of a large number of different 

 kinds and cuts of meat was measured and the results are discussed with ref- 

 erence to the effect on toughness of the proportion of connective tissue pi'esent. 

 The author also studied the effect of hanging, cold, and cooking u])on toughness. 

 When meat was Ixtiled for r> minutes it was found that toughness diminished S 

 per cent and when cooked for 2 hours 10 per cent. 



The toughness of vegetable foods and the changes which cooking brings 

 about, K. B. Lehmann, P. Gunkel, and J. Wilms (Arch. Hyg., 63 (1907), 

 No. 2, pp. J80-1S2). — losing the methods outlined above the authors measured 

 the decrease in toughness which vegetable foods undergo when cooked. In the 

 case of peas the i*elative resistance to the cutting surface, i. e., the toughness, 

 was 220 when cooked for 15 minutes, when cooked for an hour in distilled 

 water 39, and when cooked for an hour in si)ring water 65. In general cooked 

 vegetable foods are f to A less tough or resistant than the raw foods. 



[Cooking tests], Mary U. Watson (Aiuk Rpt. Ontario Agr. Col. and Expt. 

 Farm, 33 (1907), pp. 2JfO-2.'i5). — Several cooking tests were carried on as a part 

 of the work of students in home economics. Beans were soaked in limewater, 

 hard water from the local water supply, and the same hard water softened by 

 boiling and also by the addition of bicarbonate of soda. After soaking the 

 beans were cooked in the hard water and the water softened by l)oiling and also 

 by bicarbonate of soda. 



It was found that beans soaked in softened water increased most in weight. 

 Three hours' cooking at the simmering point did not soften and disintegrate the 

 cellulose of beans soaked and cooked in hard water, and beans thus cooked, it 

 was concluded, are neither palatable nor digestible. 



" The harder the water in which beans cooked, the same length of time, the 

 more unpalatable and indigestible the beans, and the more proteid lost in 

 cooking. 



" Beans cooked in water softened by boiling have a much more appetizing 

 appearance than those cooked in water softened by baking soda. They keep 

 their shai)e better and are only very slightly colored yellow. 



"Beans cooked in water softened liy boiling are the most mealy. They would 

 therefore be most digestible, as the saliva could most easily mix with the par- 

 ticles of the bean." 



Beans cooked in water softened by boiling were the most palatable of those 

 tested and the most nutritious since they lost the least of their nutritive con- 



