FOODS HUMAN NUTRITION. 665 



elimination of this micro-organism increased sanitary conditions are recom- 

 mended in handling the fish, and detailed suggestions are made for the cleaning 

 of buildings and utensils. 



" The fish should he washed by sprays of water or by a machine. The 

 sprays should have sufficient force to do the work well. The present method 

 of pitching the fish into a tank or dory and then out again is not suflBcient for 

 cleaning, and, furthermore, it tends to disseminate any organisms which may 

 be present. 



" The water used upon the fish or upon anything with which the fish come 

 in contact should be of undoubted purity. The use of harbor water for any 

 purpose can not be justified, as it is filled with the germs which come from 

 emptying the butts and washing fish and docks. It is also apt to be polluted 

 with sewage from the city, as was found to be the case in the investigation here 

 reported. . . . 



" The finished product should be held in a reasonably cool place in summer, 

 and when shipped it should be handled under proper temperature conditions 

 as are other meat products. . . . 



" Concentrated sulphurous acid should be used as a disinfectant when steam 

 is not available. One part of the acid to 50 parts of water is effectual where 

 much reddening has occurred, and 1 part to 200 parts of water will be effective 

 in preventing growth if used often." 



Seasonal variations in the quantity of glycog'en present in samples of 

 oysters, J. A. ^NIilroy (Dcpf. Agr. and Tech. Instr. Ireland, Fisheries, Sci. 

 Invest., 1901, No. 4, PP- 12, dgms. 8 [piih. i909] ).— Samples of oysters from dif- 

 ferent localities were collected at intervals for a year and the percentage of 

 glycogen determined. 



According to the author's summary, " the percentage of glycogen varies to a 

 large extent with the weight or nutritive condition of the oysters. As regards 

 seasonal variations there is a gradual rise in the percentage from the beginning 

 of August until the middle or end of October. This is succeeded by a fall which 

 reaches its minimum about the middle of December. From that period onwards 

 the percentage rises until it reaches its maximum some time between the be- 

 ginning of April and early in May. The percentage then falls until it reaches 

 its second minimum early in August. The fact that the variations in percentage 

 of glycogen to a large extent run parallel with the variations in weight some- 

 what masks the seasonal alterations. . . . 



" The results appear to indicate that glycogen is being stored from August 

 to October probably as a provision for a period of lessened activity of absorption 

 during the colder months. The second rise in percentage is ]n-obably prepar- 

 atory to an increased functional activity with a correspondingly increased de- 

 struction of glycogen during the hotter months of the year." 



Basic extractive material in mushrooms (Agaricus campestris), F. 

 KuTSCHEK (Zenthl. Physiol., 2.'/ {1910), No. 11, pp. 115, 776).— Arginin, cholin, 

 and betain were isolated and a hitherto unknowni base which, judged by analysis, 

 had a formula like histidin plus 3 methyl groups. 



The dig'estibility of cheese, C. F. Doane ( U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Anim. Indus. 

 Circ. 166, pp. 22). — Two series of experiments on the digestibility of cheese are 

 reported which represent cooperative work of the Bureau of Animal Industry 

 and the Ofiice of Experiment Stations. In the first series there were 184 ex- 

 periments with 65 young men serving as subjects, and in the second series about 

 50 experiments. American cheese made by the regular Cheddar process, with 

 varying amounts of rennet and cured for different lengths of time and ripened 

 under controlled conditions, was used in the tests, as well as a number of other 

 sorts of cheese, with a view to determining whether thoroughness of digestiou 



