408 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD, 



mentswere made, 16 proved insusceptible, 27 developed fever and were subsequently 

 insusceptible, while 2 showed no fever even after the second inoculation. The 

 author believes that one attack renders the animal immune. 



The so-called maxillary disease of horses and mules in Kamerun, H. 

 Ziemann (Arch. Wiss. u. Prakt Tierheilk., 31 ( 1905 ), No. 8, pp. 300-311, figs. J).— This 

 disease is described in great detail. The temperature of affected animals appeared 

 not to he greatly affected. In most cases the result was fatal after the disease had 

 run a course of from 4 to 12 months. The most pronounced lesion was in the max- 

 illary hones and soft tissues of the face. The etiology of the disease was not defi- 

 nitely determined. From unsatisfactory inoculation experiments it appeared that 

 if the disease was of a bacterial nature the incubation period was of about 50 days. 



Tetanus and antitetanic serum, W. II. Dalrymple ( Vet. liec, 17 (1905), Xo. 

 867, pp. 513-516). — A record is given of 9 cases of tetanus in horses treated by the 

 author, with recovery in 7 cases, and a similar recovery of 15 out of 28 cases which 

 occurred in the practice of a colleague of the author. It is argued that since the 

 difficulty of obtaining perfect asepsis in deep wounds is very great, the desirability 

 of using antitetanic serum is sufficiently apparent. 



The virulence of the blood in rabid animals, A. Marie (Compt. Rend. Sue. 

 Biol. [Paris], 58 (1905), No. 12, pp. 544, 545). — Mice inoculated hypodermically with 

 the defibrinated blood of rabid guinea pigs and a rabbit inoculated in the brain with 

 the Mood serum of another rabbit which had died of rabies developed rabies in a 

 virulent form. These positive results from inoculation are supposed to indicate the 

 presence of virus in the blood. 



Is rabies hereditary? D. Konradi (Centbl. Bakt. [efe.], 1- Abt., Orig., 38 (1905), 

 No. 1, pp. 60-66). — Attention is called briefly to results thus far obtained in a study 

 of the hereditary transmission of various infectious diseases. This question was 

 tested by the author with regard to rabies, the experimental animals being rabbits 

 and guinea pigs. It appears from these experiments that rabies virus may be trans- 

 mitted from the mother to the fetus, but that the virus becomes somewhat attenuated 

 during this transmission. It is recommended that in such experiments both rabbits 

 and guinea pigs be used, and that observations be extended over a period of about 

 1 2 years. 



RURAL ENGINEERING. 



Report of irrigation and drainag/e investigations, 1904, E. Mead ( U. S. 

 Dept. Agr., Office Expt. Stas. Rpt. 1904, pp- 425-472, pis. 5, figs. 5). — A leading feature 

 of the irrigation work from the beginning has been the measurement of the quanti- 

 ties of water used in irrigation. This has served to bring to the attention of water 

 users the possibility of extending their irrigated area by economy in the use of water. 



One canal in California diverts sufficient water to cover the land irrigated to a 

 depth of more than 13 ft,, while the water diverted by another would cover the land 

 irrigated to a depth of less than 2 ft. The first season's measurements on the Sunny- 

 side Canal in Washington showed sufficient water to cover the land to a depth of 

 10 ft., while the measurements in 1904 showed a reduction to 6 ft., and there is 

 thought to be still room for great improvement. 



In 1904 these measurements were supplemented by experiments on the water 

 requirements of crops, the application of water at different stages in the growth of 

 the crops, to determine the influence on the yield and quality of the product, and 

 means of checking the loss of water from the fields. Taking the quantity of water 

 evaporated under surface flooding as a basis, applying water in shallow furrows made 

 a saving of 13 per cent and in deep furrows a saving of 25 per cent. 



As to the adaptability of different methods of irrigation, checking was found 

 advantageous for light sandy soils w r hich are approximately level. With this method 

 an irrigator can handle a large volume of water, reducing the cost of applying water 

 to a minimum. It requires, however, much preliminary preparation in making 



