1919] FOODS HUMAN NUTRITION. 167 



0.75 oz. in hot water (distilled) 1 pint, cool. Add poison solution to sirup and 

 stir well. Add to the poison sirup, honey (strained) 2 lbs. Mix thoroughly. 



The cost of treating orchards for ant control is said to be cheaper than fumi- 

 gation or spraying, and so low that the owner of infested property can ill 

 afford not to avail himself of this method. In response to a petition of the 

 citrus fruit growers in the Upland district, control measures against the 

 citrophilus mealy bug were instituted and a campaign started in September, 

 1917, in an orchard infested by both mealy bugs and the ant. An inspection of 

 the orchard in April, 1918, showed that 98 per cent of the trees of the first 

 half treated were free of ants, and that 62 per cent of the part treated ia 

 November were clean. " The effectiveness of the sirup in the first demonstra- 

 tion was so apparent withm a few weeks after its distribution that control 

 efforts were rapidly extended to neighboring orchards and by the beginning of 

 1918 more than 150 acres had been treated. At the present time the ants have 

 become not merely controlled but totally eradicated over this extensive area. 



" This ant work has been extended during 1918 by more than 350 acres, prac- 

 tically all of which is in commercial control. An area of approximately 550 

 acres of citrus orchards practically in a solid block has been subjected to 

 control of the Argentine ant within 16 months following the institution of a 

 demonstration at Upland, and stands as an example of the possibilities in 

 control and eradication of this insect through persistent and concerted action 

 of fruit growers." 



FOODS— HUMAN NUTRITION. 



The antiscorbutic value of cabbage. — I, The antiscorbutic and growth- 

 promoting' properties of raw and heated cabbage, E. M. Delf {Biochcm. 

 Jonr.. 12 (1918), No. 4, pp. 416-U7, pis. 2, figs. 5).— The author reviews the 

 work of Hoist and Frolieh (E. S. R., 27, p. 567) on the antiscorbutic value of 

 fresh raw cabbage and of cooked cabbage, and reports an extensive study of 

 the same subject, using g-uinea pigs as the experimental animals. 



The standard basal diet was a mixture of rolled oats and bran ad libitum 

 with water and, in cases where the rations of cabbage were small, with a daily 

 supplement of 60 cc. of milk autoclaved for one hour at 120° C. The cabbage 

 was given in the green leaf. 



From the series of experiments with raw cabbage the conclusion is drawn 

 that under the conditions of the experiment a 1 gm. ration of fresh cabbage 

 may be regarded as the minimum for protection from the symptoms usually 

 diagnosed as scurvy. On a 0.5 gm. ration, well-marked symptoms of scurvy 

 were obtained. Apparently satisfactory growth and health were obtained with 

 from 1.5 to 5 gm. when 60 cc. autoclaved milk was added daily to the diet, al- 

 though suggestions of soreness during life and the histology of the bone carti- 

 lage junctions indicated a condition of incipient scurvy. With a ration of 30 

 gm. of fresh cabbage, normal growth took place with an increase of about 100 

 per cent in 90 days. 



A comparative study of the antiscorbutic value of cabbage after exposure to 

 various temperatures for different intervals of time showed that the anti- 

 scorbutic factor is exceedingly sensitive to temperatures below 100°. The rate 

 of destruction, however, is increased only about threefold for an increase in 

 temperature of 30 to 40°, as shown by the fact tliat 5 gm. of cabbage cooked 

 for one hour at 60° was about equal in antiscorbutic value to 5 gm. of cabbage 

 cooked at 100° for 20 minutes and to 1 gm. of raw cabbage. It is pointed out 

 that this low temperature coefficient is in opposition to the view that the 

 antiscorbutic factor is a complex protein or an enzym-like substance. 



