ANLMAL PRODUCTION. 1005 



20.2 per cent, pentosans 20.6 per cent, crude fiber 35.4 per cent, and ash 9.2 per 

 cent. In the case of heated hay a peculiar aroma and an acid vapor were noted. 

 Tests showed thai tin- acid formed was formic acid. The air in the interior of the 

 heated stack contained more carbon dioxid than normal, but the authors do not feel 

 certain that this was due to beating. A microscopical examination of very black 

 heated hay showed that the epidermis cells and the fibrovascular bundles were not 

 darkened. In the case of the other cells the protoplasm of the cells was darkened 

 or wholly black, while the cell walls were not darkened more than could be accounted 

 for by the diffusion of the cell contents. This, in their opinion, would indicate that 

 the heating was not due to bacteria] nr enzymic action. 



To determine whether the characteristics of heated hay could be produced without 

 bacteria or enzyms sterilized hay. inclosed in a metal box, was heated at 95 and 100' 

 for 20 days. Upon examination it was found to possess the characteristics of heated 

 hay and analysis snowed that it resembled the natural product in composition, the 

 dry matter containing proportionally less nitrogen-free extract and pentosans and 

 mi. re protein, fat, crude fiber, and ash than the original material. Chemical tests 

 showed the presence of formic acid and a microscopical examination showed that, 

 as regards the appearance of the cells, the artificially heated hay resembled that 

 heated in stacks. The investigations as a whole led to the conclusion that micro- 

 organisms are not the immediate cause of the heating of hay, but that it is due to a 

 chemical process. 



Experiments on the assimilation by growing- animals of the calcium and 

 phosphoric acid of different calcium phosphates, Kohleb {Ztschr. Uniersuch. 

 Nahr. a. Genussmtl., . No. 11, p. 683). — A brief note en a paper presented at 



the seventy-sixth meeting of the German Naturalists and Physicians, at Breslau, 

 September, 1904. In experiments with lambs the author found that calcium and 

 phosphoric acid were most thoroughly assimilated in the form ol precipitated calcium 

 phosphate which, of course, is a mixture of tricalcium and dicalcium phosphate. 

 Bone meal with the gelatin removed and calcined bones wen- less thoroughly assim- 

 ilated. Freshly precipitated tricalcium phosphate was much better assimilated than 

 has been commonly supposed. 



The influence of alkalis on skeletal growth, II. Abok I Arch. I J hi/.<ioL [Pfliiger], 

 106 I 1904), No. 1-2, /'/». •''/, 92). — A preliminary note on the effect of sodium and 

 potassium on the metabolism of calcium and formation of hone. When the amount 

 of sodium in the ration was much diminished aid the amount of calcium much 

 increased the ;_ r ains in calcium and bone formation were less than normal, although 

 the diet contained an abundant supply of calcium and phosphorus. The tests were 

 carried on with calves. 



Experiments on the influence of food on the length of the intestine, E. 

 Babak [Zentbl. Physiol., 18 {1904), No. 21, /■/•. 662-666). — The experiments reported 

 were made with tadpoles fed different sorts of food. A diet of both animal and veg- 

 etable fond increased the length of the intestine, the vegetable food most markedly, 

 and an excess of carl ".hydrates did not produce such an effect. The author concludes 

 that the lengthening is largely due t.. chemical rather than mechanical stimulation, 

 plant protein being the most active of the nutrients studied. 



The formation of sugar from protein, II. Ldthje {Arch. Physiol. [Pfluger], 

 106 {1904), No. 8-4, pp. 160-167). — In a polemical article on the formation of sugar 

 from protein, the author reports an additional experiment in support of his contention 

 that such formation is possible. A dog with the pancreas removed was fed nutrose 

 and later casein— i. e., a diet practically free from carbohydrates, and excreted 1,176 

 trm. of sugar in the experimental period which covered 25 days. Taking into account 

 what was regarded as the maximum amount of preexisting glycogen supplied by the 

 body the author calculates that 919 gm. of sugar must have been formed from the 

 food. 



