1050 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



national Council of titles of articles and books relating to bacteriology. As men- 

 tioned elsewhere (E. S. E.., 14, p. 637) it is an outgrowth of the Catalogue of Scien- 

 tific Papers relating to scientific literature, published by the ^oyal Society of London. 

 The plan of treatment is similar to that previously described for Botany, an author 

 and subject catalogue being given for the different articles. In all, 2,206 titles are 

 indexed, and for the subject index a decimal system of grouping has been adopted. 

 The value of the catalogue is greatly depreciated by the very evident omission of 

 works by American authors. Only 66 articles and 14 books of authors publishing 

 in the United States during 1901 are listed, and these are distributed through 19 

 publications. No reference could be found to the work of this Department nor to 

 tliat of any of tlie experiment stations, although many contributions were made to 

 bacteriological literature during the year. A saving clause is inserted in the cata- 

 logue to the effect that "those portions of the literature of 1901 which are not dealt 

 with in this volume will be included in the volume of Bacteriology which will foi'm 

 a part of the second annual issue of the catalogue." It is to be hoped that a more 

 careful survey of the literature will be given in subsequent volumes. 



The practice of industrial fermentation, E. Ozakd {La pratique des fermentations 

 indiistrielJcs. I'drir: Masson li- Co., 1903, pj). 168, figs. 2). — In this book the author 

 describes the manufacture of alcohol and gives a general account of the various 

 agents used in fermentation. These are considered under the separate headings of 

 yeasts, molds, and diastases, and the advantage accruing from the use of ])ure cultures 

 is shown. The methods of manufacturing pressed yeast and pure yeasts are described, 

 after which the processes of the fermentation of l:)eets, molasses, potatoes, artichokes, 

 etc., in the preparation for distillation of alcohol, rum, or beer, are described. The 

 subject of the manufacture and use of yeasts in baking is discussed, as well as the 

 use of yeasts in wine making. In the concluding chapter the author describes the 

 process of fermentation in the manufacture of citric acid, gallic acid, and indigo. 



Technical mycology: The utilization of micro-organisms in the arts and 

 manufactures, F. Lafak, trans, by C. T. C. Salter [Philadelphia: J. B. Lii>pincott 

 Co., 1903, Vol. II, pt. 1, pp. VIII+lS9,figs. ft9).— This is in continuation of Lafar's 

 work on technical mycology, the first volume of which appeared in 1898 (E. S. R., 

 10, p. 520), and is the first part of the volume treating of Eumycetic fermentation. 

 The general morphology and physiology of the Eumycetes are described, in which 

 the chemical composition, action of mineral nutrients, stimulative influences, pres- 

 ence and action of enzyms in this group of ferments are discussed in detail. Fer- 

 mentation by the Zygomycetes is discussed, the morphology, physiology, and fer- 

 mentation by Mucor, Rhizopus and related organisms being treated. The use of 

 some of these, such as the Chinese yeasts, 31. rouxii and Amylomj/ces sp., in the 

 fermentation of various kinds of spirits is described. Tlie concluding laortion of the 

 book treats of the Sacch .romyces, the morphology, life history, and anatomy of the 

 yeast cell T)eing fully discussed. With the concluding part of this volume, which is 

 j)romised by the i^ublishers as soon as the proofs are received from the author, this 

 volume will supplement the first, which treats of the Schizomycetes and their use in 

 the arts and manufactures. Ths recent advances in applied biology can hardly be 

 appreciated until brought together in some such work as this, and Doctor Lafar has 

 well performed liis task. 



The general theory of the action of diastases, V. Henri (Compt. Bend. Acad. 

 Sci. Paris, 135 {1902), No. 21, pp. 916-919). — The action of diastases is said in many 

 respects to be similar to that produced by acids acting upon carbohydrates. The 

 author has studied the action of invertin, emulsin, and amylase on various carbohy- 

 drates, from which he concludes that when the rapidity of inversion of saccharose is 

 studied it is found that for a given amount of diastase the rate of inversion increases 

 more rapidly than the strength of solution decreases below 0.1 normal, but if the 

 strength of solution is increased beyond 0. 1 normal the rate is independent of the 

 concentration of solution. The result is the same for the action of emulsin on 



