168 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



out, water barriers, ant-proofiug, methods of killing, destruction of nests, ant 

 powders, ant fluids, and arsenical poisoning. The best barrier consists of water 

 treated with cresol and makes possible a practical ant-proofiug of rooms or 

 houses. For many ants the nests may be destroyed by the use of carbon 

 bisulphid, potassium cyanid, or oil. A sirup containing a very small quantity 

 of arsenic is recommended as the most available poison and the only really 

 satisfactory method of killing the Argentine ant. The author considers eradi- 

 cation to be a possibility and thinks it should be undertaken. 



Tick and other blood-sucking arthropoda of Jamaica, R. Newstead {Bui, 

 Dept. Agr. Jamaica, n. ser., 1 {1910), No. 3, pp. 1 J/5-175, pis. 9). — A reprint 

 of the account previously noted (E. S. R., 22, p. 558). 



Acarinosis of the vine and its treatment, H. Faes {Btil. Soc. Vaiid. 8ci. Nat., 

 5. ser.. .',6 {1910), No. 168, pp. 59-7S, pis. 4, figs. 3).— Since 1900, when injury 

 to grapevines in Switzerland by acarids was noticed at Tarteguin, near Rolle 

 on Lake Geneva, and along the border of Lake Bienne, these pests have rapidly 

 increased and have become a source of injury in the cantons of Geneva, Vaud, 

 Valais, Neuchatel, Berne, Schaffhouse, etc. The mite concerned has been de- 

 scribed by A. Nalepa as a new species, to which the name Phyllocoptes vitis is 

 given. Mention is also made of an affection of the vine manifested in July and 

 August by a brownish color which the leaves take on. This trouble is due to 

 the acarid previously described by A. Nalepa as Epitrimerus vitis. 



As remedial measures, the best results have been obtained from applications 

 of a 4 per cent solution of cresol or a 3 per cent solution of alkaline poly- 

 sulphids. Vines treated with the latter are said to present a somewhat more 

 vigorous appearance than when cresol is used. 



The use of arsenate of lead in viticulture, L. Moreau and E. Vinet ( Gompt. 

 Rend. Acad. Sci. [Paris], 150 {1910), No. 12, pp. 787-790).— Lead arsenate did 

 not appear in wine made from grapes from vines that had been sprayed with 

 this insecticide. It is said to be eliminated with the refuse and probably also 

 in the marc. 



FOODS— HUMAN NUTRITION. 



The nutritive value of beef extract, W. H. Thompson {Pharm. Jour. [Lon- 

 don], Jf. ser., 31 {1910), No. 2Jf5o, p. 5'tS). — The author briefly summarizes the 

 results of experiments with dogs, from which he concludes that beef extract 

 has both a direct and an indirect nutritive value. The investigation was under- 

 taken, he states, at the request of the medical commissioner of the Local Gov- 

 ernment Board of Ireland, and described in a paper presented before the British 

 Association at Sheffield. 



When beef extract was compared with hard boiled egg added to the food, 

 " it was found that from 8 to 10 times as much by weight of the latter was 

 required to give the same increase in weight of animal or, expressed as dry 

 organic solids in the two foods, from 2* to 4 times as much egg white." 



American catfishes: Habits, culture, and commercial importance, W. C. 

 Kendall ( U. S. Dept. Com. and Labor, Bur. Fisheries Doc. 733, pp. 39, pis. 

 10). — In addition to descriptions of American catfishes, their food habits, the 

 cultivation of catfishes, market fisheries, and related topics, the food qualities 

 of the different sorts of catfishes are considered. 



Wheat {Jour. Bd. Agr. [London], 17 {1910), No. 3, Sup. //, pp. 84, dgm. 1).— 

 Papers on wheat read at a meeting of the British Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, held at Winnipeg, August, 1909, are here brought together. 

 They include : On the General Economic Position of Wheat Growing and the 

 Special Considerations Affecting the North-West of Canada, by P. G. Craigie; 

 The Factors Determining the Yield of Wheat, by A. D. Hall and B. J. Russell ; 



