870 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol.38 



enzyms are destroj^ed by oxidation, the further conclusion is drawn that the 

 heart is not autolyzed during starvation, because oxidation in this organ 

 remains normally intense, and thus provides for this oxidation of the autolyz- 

 ing enzyms and the maintenance of the normal balance between oxidation and 

 autolysis ; on the other hand, the fat and skeletal muscles are autolyzed 

 during starvation because of the decreased oxidation, which leaves the autolytic 

 enzyms free to digest these tissues." 



The effect of thyroid feeding on the catalase content of the tissues, W. B. 

 BuRGE, J. Kennedy, and A. J. Neill (Amer. Jour. Physiol., JfS {1911), No. 3, 

 pp. ^33-^37). — The object of this investigation was to determine whether thy- 

 roid feeding increases the catalase content of certain tissues, which would 

 account for the increased oxidation of animals fed thyroid, while in other 

 tissues, such as the muscles and fat, it causes a decrease in oxidation, which 

 would account for the increased autolysis in these tissues. Experiments were 

 made with cats. The following conclusions were reached : 



" Thyroid feeding increases the catalase of the blood and decreases it in the 

 heart and probably in the fat and skeletal muscles. The increased catalase of 

 the blood may account for the increased oxidation in animals to which thyroid 

 is fed, while the decreased catalase in the heart, skeletal muscles, and fat may 

 account for the increased autolysis in these tissues, the idea being that when 

 oxidation is decreased in these tissues a smaller amount of the autolyzing 

 enzyms is oxidized and destroyed, resulting in an increase in the rate of 

 autolysis." 



The role of catalase in acidosis, W. E. Bubge {Science, n. ser., Jft {191S), 

 No. 1214, PP- 347,'3JfS). — From observations made upon the catalase consent of 

 the blood of animals under conditions of pancreatic diabetes, " surgical shock," 

 anesthesia, and starvation, the conclusion is drawn that the defective oxidation 

 in diabetes and the decreased oxidation in anesthesia, starvation, and " surgical 

 shock," with resulting acidoses," is probably due to the decrease in catalase. 



AiraiAL PRODUCTION. 



Wintering and fattening beef cattle in North Carolina, W. F. Waud, R. S. 

 CxJETis, and F. T. Peden {U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 628 {1918), pp. 53, figs. S).— 

 This work, done in cooperation with the North Carolina Experiment Sta- 

 tion, covers the results of three years' experiments with beef cattle in the 

 western part of the State. It is deemed applicable to similar conditions pre- 

 vailing in the mountainous sections of the Virginias, Carolinas, Kentucky, Ten- 

 nessee, and Georgia. The following studies are reported: 



I, Wintering steers preparatory to grazing on pasture. — Cattle in the moun- 

 tainous sections are usually carried through the winter on light maintenance 

 rations and put on pasture the following summer for gains when feed is more 

 abundant The objects of this experiment were to determine the costs and 

 methods of wintering stock cattle, the value of feeding for the maintenance of 

 weights, and the effects of wintering on the gains on pasture during the follow- 

 ing summer. The results cover three years with four lots, the first and second 

 lots averaging 24 head, the third 33, and the fourth 19. Lot 1 was wintered 

 on ear corn, corn stover, hay, and straw ; lots 2 and 3 on corn silage, stover, 

 hay, and straw ; and lot 4 on winter pasture, being fed dry roughage and corn 

 only when snow was on the ground. 



For the three years the steers in lot 1 cost $11.13 to winter, and lost an 

 average of 32 lbs. per head each season, the increased cost per 100 lbs. 

 in the spring being $1.74. Lot 2 cost $7.11 to winter, lost 51 lbs. each, and 



