472 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



covered masses were attached by suspending strings or folds of peritoneum. 

 One was a nomial fresh egg in a single egg membrane. Ten had evidently 

 been normal eggs but at the time of autopsy they contained a homogeneous 

 mixture of yolk and albumin which had lost the gelatinous character of fresh 

 egg albumin. Each of these eggs was inclosed in a single egg membrane. The 

 other four eggs were double eggs." 



" The most probable explanation of the abnormality of the oviduct found in 

 the case described is that in early embryonic development (probably on the 

 sixth or seventh day of incubation) the backward growth of the primordial 

 oviduct stopped permanently, while the differentiation of the part already 

 formed continued in the normal manner. 



"As in other cases where the passage of the egg is prevented the sex organs 

 passed through their normal reproductive cycles; the oviduct functioned as far 

 as the point where the passage was interrupted; the eggs were then returned 

 to the body cavity and resorbed. The number of eggs and empty egg mem- 

 branes found in this fowl, which was apparently in a perfectly normal physical 

 condition, show that a bird possesses very great power of resorption of its own 

 proteins from the peritoneal cavity. Such resorption does not necessarily cause 

 metabolic disturbances." 



Studies on the physiology of reproduction in the domestic fowl. — ^XIII, On 

 the failure of extract of pituitary body (anterior lobe) to activate the resting 

 ovary, R. Pearl and F. M. Subface (Jour. Biol. Chem., 21 {1915), No. 1, pp. 

 95-101).— In an earlier paper (E. S. R., 32, p. 671) it was shown that the sub- 

 stance of the corpora lutea of the cow has the power to inhibit ovulation in an 

 actively laying fowl. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there 

 is any chemical substance which will activate the resting ovary. 



It was found that " the substance of the anterior lobe of the pituitary body 

 of the cow, when injected into the abdominal cavity of hens in which the ovary 

 is in a completely resting condition, does not cause an activation of the ovary, 

 in the sense of inducing ovulation at an earlier date than that at which it 

 would normally occur." 



The cholesterol metabolism of the lien's egg during incubation, J. H. 

 Mueller {Jour. Biol. Chem., 21 {1915), No. 1, pp. 23-28).— As a result of his 

 studies the author concludes that " the cholesterol of the newly laid hen's egg 

 is practically all in the free condition. During the period of incubation this 

 condition obtains until about the thirteenth day, from which time there is a 

 gradual esterification until, at the time of hatching, over 40 per cent of the 

 cholesterol present is in the form of esters. The esterifying cholesterol may 

 function as a detoxifying substance, with which the toxic fatty acids, set free 

 from lecithin during the latter stage of embryonic development, combine to 

 form harmless esters." 



Studies on the energy metabolism of the domestic fowl, H. Gerhaetz 

 (Landw. Jahrb., 46 {19U), No. 5, pp. 797-8U; «&«• in Iniernat. Inst. Agr. 

 [Rome's, Mo. Bui. Agr. Intel, and Plant Diseases, 5 {1914), No. 12, pp. 1623, 

 1624). — The author reviews the work of a number of earlier investigators, and 

 gives the results of his own studies in determining the amount of energy re- 

 quired daily by hens per kilogram of live weight and per 1,000 sq. cm. of body 

 surface during the molting, laying, and resting periods. 



The minimum requirement amounted to 58.37 calories per 1,000 sq. cm. of 

 body surface per day for the normal fasting fowl ; 62.15 calories for the same 

 bird that had been fed ; and 71.78 calories for the brooding hen after feeding 

 This is a somewhat lower requirement than that of other animals, it appearing 

 that fowls in a state of absolute repose have a relatively low transformation 

 of energy. During the molting period the transformation was slightly in- 



