ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 265 



" Sleep lias also been shown to have an influence upon the basal metabolism, 

 the stimulus to the cellular activity being greater with an individual when he 

 is lying awake than when he is asleep. 



" Considerable fluctuations in the basal metabolism have been found from 

 day to day not only with a fasting man, but with normal individuals studied 

 over considerable periods of time. These variations could not logically be 

 attributed to changes in body weight or body surface, and obviously there was 

 no change in height. Even in the course of 24 hours the fasting subject was 

 found to have three distinct metabolic planes, showing clearly a diurnal varia- 

 tion in the stimulus to the cellular activity. 



" Still other factors considered as influencing the stimulus to cellular ac- 

 tivity are prolonged fasting, the character of the preceding diet, and the after 

 effects of severe muscular work. 



" Fi'om the evidence gathered with the various subjects studied it is clear 

 that the basal metabolism of an individual is a function, first, of the total mass 

 of active protoplasmic tissue, and second, of the stimulus to cellular activity 

 existing at the time the measurement of the metabolism is made. Apparently 

 at pi'esent no law can be laid down that will cover both of these important 

 variables in the basal metabolism of an individual." 



A respiration apparatus for small animals, F. G. Benedict (Jour. Biol. 

 Chem., 20 (1915), No. 3, pp. 301-81.1, figs. 3).— A description is given of a modi- 

 fied universal respiration apparatus of the closed-circuit type, which was de- 

 signed for the measurement of the carbon dioxid production and oxygen con- 

 sumption of small laboratory animala It is also provided with a device for 

 graphically recording the muscular activity of the animal. The results are 

 reported of test experiments with the rabbit and the guinea pig. 



Corrections in bomb calorimetry, G. N. Huntly {.Analyst, 40 (1915), No. 467, 

 pp. 4^-48)- — ^This article, which is supplemental to an earlier one,*' gives nu- 

 merous other corrections which are to be applied in bomb calorimetry. 



ANIMAL PRODUCTION". 



Animal husbandry {Missouri 8ta. Bui. 131 {1915), pp. .f,66-.',G9, figs. 2).— 

 Notes on the following investigations are presented: 



Age as a factor in animal hreeding, by F. B. Mumford and L. A. Weaver. — 

 The results seem to indicate that early pregnancy and lactation causes arrested 

 development in the mother. Pregnancy itself did not cause retarded growth. 

 The growth curves of young pregnant sows followed the same general direction 

 as the growth curves of young nonpregnant sows when each was subjected to 

 the same conditions of food, shelter, and exercise. The growth curves of young 

 sows with suckling pigs, compared with the growth curves of nonsuckling sows 

 of similar age and breeding, give evidence of the retarding effect of lactation 

 on the growth. 



Use of feed experiment, by H. O. Allison. — In this experiment comparing the 

 influence of various planes of nutrition upon breeding cattle, no definite con- 

 clusions have been reached, but indications are that the higher the plane of 

 nutrition the more food there is required for beef production. 



Preparation of corn for fattening steers, by H. O. Allison. — Five lots of six 

 choice 2-year-old steers each were fed a ration composed of corn silage, hay, 

 cotton-seed meal, and corn prepared in various ways. The steers receiving 

 finely ground corn chop made the highest average daily gain and the greatest 



"Jour. Soc. Chem. Indus., 29 (1910), No. 15, pp. 919-921. 



