368 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOED. 



and, above all, in the vegetable nutriments, there are mysterious forces at 

 work, the outlines of which are only just beginning to appear. . . . When 

 fed on oats or barley only, guinea pigs constantly die from scurvy ; but if we 

 moisten the grains and make them sprout — that is, when we convert them into 

 fresh vegetables — they prevent the disease." 



Relation of oysters to the transmission of infectious diseases, H. D. Pease 

 (Trans. 15. Internat. Cong. Hyg. and Demogr. Washington, 4 {1912) ^ Sect. 5, 

 pp. 203-213). — In this paper, what the author believes to be the best informed 

 opinion regarding infection by shell fish is summarized as follows : 



" Outbreaks of acute gastro-intestinal disturbances and of typhoid fever have 

 been shown to be due to the consumption of raw oysters and clams which 

 have been floated in specifically polluted waters during a nonhibernating season 

 of the year for these shellfish, but ... no evidence exists that oysters taken 

 from their natural or final maturing beds during any season of the year, nor 

 that any oysters — floated or not — during their hibernating period, have ever 

 caused outbreaks or endemic conditions of any infectious disease. . . . 



" The burden of official supervision, therefore, is determined by the life cycle 

 of the oysters and the practical requirements for the conduct of the business. 

 The important point is to determine the sanitary conditions of the drinking 

 places during the late summer and early fall mouths. When this has been ac- 

 complished, it will doubtless be found that oysters taken from waters in at least 

 the more northern sections of the Atlantic coast have ceased to be a factor in 

 the transmission of infectious diseases." 



[Shellfish and transmission of disease], G. A. Soper {Trans. 15. Internat. 

 Cong. Hyg. and Demogr. Washington, 4 {1912), Sect. 5, pp. 211-213). — In an 

 informal discussion of the paper noted above, emphasis is laid on the importance 

 of controlling the use of hard or little-neck clams and also of soft clams from 

 polluted waters. 



"Unlike the oyster, which requires a rather firm, clean bed, the hard clam 

 grows well in a muddy bottom. Sewage sludge itself is not unfavorable to it. 

 It is not unusual to see persons digging hard clams close to the mouths of sew- 

 ers. After a very short period in market this form of shellfish is often eaten 

 raw. Hard clams are particularly in favor during those warm months when 

 oysters are out of season and diarrheal diseases are most common. It would 

 not be at all surprising if many outbreaks of diarrheal disease at seaside 

 summer resorts were traceable to hard clams taken from nearby polluted 

 sources. . . . 



" What are known as soft clams in New York, but are simply termed clams 

 in New England, are more often found in sewage polluted localities than are 

 oysters or hard clams. They grow deeply buried in sand or mud, and are dug 

 out of their resting places when the tide recedes and leaves their beds bare. 

 Heavily polluted shores are among the most prolific sources of soft clams, and 

 large quantities are annually taken from situations of this kind. . . . 



"Unlike oysters and hard clams, which are now extensively planted and 

 grown for market, soft clams are taken only in the wild state. . . . The persons 

 who gather them usually consume them in their own homes, or distribute them 

 among friends. To control the purity of soft clams will be more difficult than 

 to prevent the pollution of oysters, but the beneficial results to be obtained 

 would seem to make the effort well v/orth while." 



Some calorlmetrical investigations relating- to the manifestation and 

 amount of imbibition heat in tissues, V. E. Nierstbasz (K. Akad, Wetensch. 

 Amsterdam, Versl. Wis en Natuurk. Afdeel., 20 (1911-12), pt. 2, pp. 1013-1024, 

 fig. 1; Proc. Roy. Acad. 8cL Amsterdam, Sect. Sci., U {1912), pt. 2, pp. 1130- 

 1188, fig. 1). — The apparatus used in these experiments, called a bolometer by 



