ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 1001 



ANIMAL PRODUCTION. 



The destruction of foods and feeding- stuffs by micro-organisms. VI, 

 The decomposition of vegetable feeding stuffs when air is excluded, .1 . Konig, 

 A. Spieckermann, and II. Kuttenkeuler (Zischr Untersuch. Nahr. u. Genussmtl., il 

 (1906), No. 4, /'/•■ 177 ?05). Bacteriological and chemical Btudies are reported in 

 continuation of earlier work I E. S. R., 17, p. 687), as well as experiments in which 

 goats and sheep were fed spoiled cotton-seed meal and cocoanul meal for a long time. 

 In general, the health of the animals was nol injured. 



The spontaneous combustion of hay, I". W.J. BoEKHOi rand .1. J. < >. de Via ion 

 (Cerdbl. Bakl. [etc.], ?. Abt., 15 (1905), No. V 18, pp. ■ l utinuing earner 



work i E. S. R., 16, p. L004), from which the conclusion was drawn thai the spontane- 

 ous combustion of hay was due to chemical processes and nol to micro-organisms, 

 the ant 1 Kirs have studied the products formed when hay becomes heated with a view- 

 to learning which constitutents are directly concerned in the process. According to 

 the results so far obtained it is nitrogen-free extracl which undergoes decomposition, 

 and the bodies which are responsible for this cleavage, thai is, for tin- spontaneous 

 combustion of hay. are neither soluble in water nor in l' per cent sodium hydroxid 

 solution. 



Micro-photographs of th.3 chaff of Gramineae of importance in the exami- 

 nation of foods and feeding stuffs, II. Neubauee i Landw. Jahrb., 34 i 1905 I, No. 

 6, pp. 973-984, pis. 5) . — The material aescribed and illustrated is arranged with a 

 view to facilitating inspection work. 



Phosphate of lime in the feeding of farm animals, L. Grandeau I Ann. Sri. 

 Agron., .'. ser., 10 l 1905), II, No. 1, pp. 1-19). — It is pointed oul that phosphate of 

 lime is an important addition to the ration of farm animals whenever the amount 

 naturally supplied by feeding stuffs is insufficient, and investigations which have to do 

 with this subject are summarized. 



The energy value of red clover hay and corn meal, II. P. Armsby and .1. A. 

 Pries I Landw. Jahrb., 34 (1905), No. 6, pp. 861-923, pis. ?).— An account of investi- 

 gations noted from another publication (E. S. Ii., 17, p. 579 . 



Concerning the amount of saliva secreted and its relation to the physical 

 characteristics of the feed, A. Schednert and G. Ii.i.im. {'/.mill. Physiol., 19 

 (1905), No. 23, pp. 853-856). — The experiments reported were performed with 2 

 healthy horses. The esophagus had been operated upon in such a way that the 

 f 1 could be collected after it was swallowed. 



It was found that 500 gm. of oats required for chewing and swallow ing 960 gm. of 

 saliva, and a like quantity of hay 2,500 gm.; a mixture of 300 gm. of oats and LOO 

 gm. of chopped straw, 1, ostium, of saliva; and 800 gm. of maize, 570 gm of saliva. 

 In earlier investigations it was found that 485 gm. of fresh grass required 335 gm. 

 for insalivation. The recorded data .-how. in the authors' opinion, that physical 

 characteristic.- (dryness and roughness) determine the amount of saliva secreted 

 when food is chewed and swallowed, and that chemical composition .Iocs nol influ- 

 ence it. 



The adaptation of the salivary secretion to diet, C. 11. Neilson and < >. P. 

 Terry (Amer. Jour. Physiol., l~> (1906), No. 4, pp. 406-411). — In experiments with 

 dogs il was found thai the salivary glands and their secretions adapted themselves to 

 the diet, sugar being found much more quickly in the case of bread-fed dogs than 

 those fed meat. 



" The saliva is more active than the gland extract, and the latter responds to the 

 diet like the glands themselves. It is a well-known fact that extracts of glands in 

 genera] are less active than the secretions. It may be that the -land contain- a 

 proferment. This may account for the latent period being longer in the gland extract 

 than in the saliva itself, as the proferment must first be changed into the active 



