1918] VETERINARY MEDICINE. 481 



Common parasites of farm animals, W. M. Burson (Bui. Ga. State Col. 

 Agr., No. 137 (1911), pp. 39, figs. 19). — A popular account of the more important 

 ectopai'asites and endoparasites of farm stock. 



Observations on the stability of tbe erythrocytes of the ox, pig, and 

 sheep, M. W. Lyon, jr. (Jour. Infect. Diseases, 22 (1918), No. 1, pp. ^9-52). — 

 " The ease with which the erythrocytes of the ox, pig, and sheep are broken up 

 by the same agent bears no relation to the zoological position of the three 

 animals. The erythrocytes of the ox on the whole are comparatively stable in 

 most circumstances and appear to be well adapted as an indicator in comple- 

 ment-fixation tests with human serum, much better than are sheep corpuscles. 

 Sheep erythrocytes ai'e comparatively imstable, though relatively resistant to 

 eel serum. Their use in complement-fixation tests with human serum intro- 

 duces a variable factor which is undesirable, although it has probably little 

 effect on the final value of the tests. Erythrocytes obtained at random from 

 abattoir animals on the whole behave similarly from week to week, and appear 

 to be quite as suited for hemolysis experiments and indicators in complement- 

 fixation tests as are the corpuscles from a single animal. Ox erythrocytes seem 

 to have better keeping qualities than the erythrocytes of the pig or sheep." 



The clinical pathology of the blood of domesticated animals, S. H. Burnett 

 (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1917, 2. ed., rev. and enl., pp. XVI-{-166, pis. 

 4, figs. 23). — A second revised and enlarged edition of this work (E. S. R., 21, 

 p. 78), which is intended as a textbook of hematology (1) for students and 

 practitioners of veterinary medicine, and (2) for investigators, to whom it 

 renders easily accessible data concerning the blood of the kinds of experimental 

 animals commonly used. In this edition what is considered to be the normal 

 for each species is stated. Tables summarizing the results obtained by the dif- 

 ferent investigations are also given. Each of the 11 chapters is accompanied 

 by a copious bibliography. 



Histology of Astragalus mollissimus, Neva Ritter (Kans. Univ. Sci. Bui., 

 .to (1917), No. 8, pp. 197-208, ijIs. 4). — A report of studies of a loco weed. 



The effect of exposure to temperatures at or above 100° C. upon the sub- 

 stance (vitamin), whose deficiency in a diet causes polyneuritis in birds 

 and beriberi in man, IIarkiette Chick and E. Margaret Hume (Proc. Roy. 

 Soc. [London], Ser. B, 90 (1917), No. B 62Jf, pp. 60-68).— " Exposure of wheat 

 embryo to a temperature of about 100° C. for two hours resulted in no signifi- 

 cant loss in antineuritic ' vitamin.' If, therefore, it is included in the flour 

 from which bread or biscuit is made, it can be relied upon to retain its anti- 

 neuritic properties after baking. At temperatures in the neighborhood of 120°, 

 however, there was a swift destruction of antineuritic properties. This fact 

 has an important bearing where diets are largely composed of preserved and 

 tinned foods previously sterilized at temperatures above 100°." In experiments 

 with yeast extract the destruction of the vitamin was rapid at 120°. 



The effect of X-rays upon diseases of bacterial origin, C. Kempster (Sci. 

 Amer. Sup., 84 (1917), No. 2181, pp. 2^3, 2^^).— It is concluded that the effect 

 of X-rays upon diseases of bacterial origin is due to the decided inhibitory 

 influence upon the reproduction and increase in the germs, and to the stimula- 

 tion of the living tissues resulting in an increased phagocytosis, and not to 

 any germicidal power. 



A new mercurial germicide (Jour. Lab. and Clin. Med., 2 (1917), No. 9, pp. 

 669, 670).— Results obtained by Schamberg, Raiziss, and Kolmer, of Philadel- 

 phia, in the preparation of -i new mercurial germicide are summarized from 

 the report to the National Research Council. It is prepared by the introduction 

 of mercury into the phenol group, and the trade name proposed is Mercurophen. 

 The results of a thorough examination indicate that the new compound is a 



