IdlTl METEOROLOGY. 615 



milk from auiiuals affected with mastitis, and normal milk diluted with vari- 

 ous percentages of water are submitted. 



The data show that in normal milk the amount of lactose is usually greater 

 than the amount of lactose-free solids. In animals affected with mastitis the 

 amount of lactose is diminished in the majority of cases, while the amount of 

 protein remains normal. With the addition of water to the milk the amount 

 of the two components diminishes proportionally. 



It is indicated that if the amount of lactose alone is abnormal and the 

 lactose-fi-ee solids are normal it should not be concluded that the milk is 

 watered, but rather that it comes from an animal or animals affected with 

 mastitis. A table giving the refractive indexes of milk serum at 17.5° C. 

 and from 16 to 41.9° and their respective percentages of lactose is included. 



The composition of cottonseed meal and cotton seed, G. S. Fraps {Texas 

 Sta. Bui. 189 {1916), pp. 5-79). — This bulletin discusses the composition of cot- 

 tonseed meal sold in Texas and other States, describes and discusses the method 

 of milling, discusses the effect of milling on the composition of the meal, de- 

 scribes and discusses methods for estimating hulls in cotton seed and for cal- 

 culating yields of oil and meal from the composition of the seed, and proposes 

 a method for estimating lint on cotton .seed, as follows : 



About 10 gm. of the whole seed is treated in a beaker with 15 cc. of concen- 

 trated sulphuric acid and the contents stirred continuously and thoroughly 

 with a glass rod until all the lint, with the exception of a very little on the 

 tip of the grain, is dis.solved. The time for this solution is noted. The seeds 

 are then separated from the excess acid by filtration on a perforated porcelain 

 plate or filter and washed with tap water. They are then spread on ordinary 

 paper and dried for 30 minutes in the steam bath, allowed to remain exposed 

 to the air overnight, weighed, and the percentage of " dissolved lint " calcu- 

 lated. The time of contact with the acid should be reported with the percentage 

 of lint. 



Considerable analytical data as regards the composition of the whole seed 

 arranged by location and by varieties, press cake, hulls, etc., are submitted in 

 tabular form. 



Conservation of fruit, fungi, truffles, and vegetables, R. Foblani {Conser- 

 vazione delle Frutta, del Funghi, dei Tarhifi, e degli Ortaggi. Rocca San 

 Casciano, Italy: Licinio Cappelli, 1915, pp. 207, figs. 7). — This volume dis- 

 cusses the subject under the following general topics : The harvesting of fruit ; 

 conservation in the fresh state ; conservation of fruit In the cold ; conservation 

 in a dry state ; desiccation of oily fruit, etc. ; desiccation of vegetables ; con- 

 servation of fruits and vegetables by sterilization ; conservation of fungi and of 

 truffles ; and the preparation and industry of green olives. 



METEOROLOGY. 



Report of the chief of the Weather Bureau, 1916 {U. S. Dept. Agr., Weather 

 Bur. Rpt. 1916, pp. 282, pis. 4). — This contains (1) an administrative report 

 summarizing the work of the Weather Bureau during the year, (2) a review 

 of weather conditions during 1915 including also sections giving detailed data on 

 sunshine and excessive precipitation, and (3) monthly and annual summaries 

 of pressure, temperature, precipitation, and related data for 1915, and of 

 monthly and seasonal snowfall for 1915-16. 



" The most pronounced weather conditions of the year 1915 were the unprece- 

 dentedly low temperatures In the southeastern part of the country during the 

 entire month of March, and the unseasonably cool weather over the great cereal 

 and grass-growing States from the middle of May to the last of August. Crop 



