662 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



"A little computation upon the figures in the table will show that only 44 -f- per 

 cent of all the moths taken were males and 55 -f- per cent were females. Of these 

 females, 87 per cent still possessed eggs in their ovaries. Or, to put it differently, 49 

 per cent of all moths taken were gravid females. ... So far as my studies have 

 gone, I have no reason to think there is any family of moths, or any considerable 

 u'umber of species that fly to light in which a good proportion of gravid females are 

 not found. I have come upon a few species, however, that have given very few 

 gravid females at either light or sugar and most notable among these are 3 species 

 of Chorizagrotis, viz, Auxilaris, Introferens, and Agrestis. ... It is almost always 

 the case that the males of a species are taken for a few nights before the females 

 appear and continue longer, but if frequent captures are made during the continu- 

 ance of the brood, the two sexes are usually taken in about even numbers. ... It 

 is fair to conclude that whenever moths are coming freely to lights or sugar, 

 especially the former, a good proportion are females that have not deposited their 

 eggs, and among those that so come, are several of our most destructive night-flying 

 species.'' 



The new law providing for the suppression and control of insect pests and 

 plant diseases in Maryland, W. G. Johnson {Maryland Sta. Bui. 55, pp. 145-149). — 

 This article gives the test of a recent law for the suppression and control of insect 

 pests and plant diseases in Maryland and discusses it briefly. 



Cordyceps militaris on a beetle, W. F. Johnson (Irish Nat., S (1899), No. 1, p. 

 24). — Notes the occurence of this fungus on Neorophorus ruspator. 



FOODS— ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 



The nutritive value of beef when cooked in the usual ways, 

 K. Forster (Der Nahrwerth des Rindfleisches bei den gebrauchlichen 

 Zubereitungsarten. Inaug. Diss., Berlin, 1897; abs. in Chem. Centbl., 

 1898, I, No. 21, pp. 1145, 1146; and Ztsclir. Untersucli. Nalir. u. Genus- 

 smtl.j 1898, Jx~o. 2, p. 782). — The investigations were summarized as fol- 

 lows: Lean beef contains on an average 75.15 per cent water, 13.11 per 

 cent protein, 7. 05 per cent fat, and 4.31 per cent ash. When prepared 

 for the table by the usual methods there was no loss of protein. Meat 

 from the hind quarter contains 4.85 to 12.3 per cent fat, that from the 

 shoulder 3.57 to 10.55 per cent. In the digestion experiments reported 

 it was shown that white wine exercised a favorable influence on the 

 digestibility of meat. The feces from a meat diet contained on an 

 average 0.82 per cent protein, 10.39 per cent fat, and 14.33 per cent ash. 

 When an abundant meat diet was consumed indican appeared in the 

 urine as well as an increased amount of uric acid and nitrogen. When 

 small amounts of meat were consumed at frequent intervals it was 

 better digested than when larger amounts were consumed at less fre- 

 quent intervals. In general beef was well digested. The coeffi- 

 cients of digestibility were : Dry matter, 93.08; nitrogen, 97.20; fat, 85.5; 

 and ash 83.1 per cent. The meat from the shoulder was from 1 to 2 per 

 cent more thoroughly digested than that from the hind quarter. The 

 effect which preparation had on the beef is shown by the following list, 

 the materials being arranged in the order of digestibility: Smoked 

 beef, roast beef, beef boiled in water (boiling at the start), raw beef, 

 corned beef, broiled beef, and beef boiled in water cold at the start. 



