HYGIENE 1463 



grapefruit is cultivated will take similar steps. This wiU force CaUfornia 

 to provide for its own consumption by its own production. Secondly, 

 the period of ripening of California Marsh Seedless grapefruit is during the 

 summer months when no other district has a ripe crop available to supply 

 the Eastern markets. The success of the grapefruit industry in CaUfornia 

 will largely depend upon a careful study, by the growers, of the condition 

 of fruit ripening and on the adoption of a commercial standard of ripeness. 

 In this connection the analyses made by the Laboratory for Agricultural 

 Chemistry at Los Angeles on various samples of grapefruit from CaUfornia 

 and Florida are of special interest. The average composition of the « stan- 

 dard '' grapefruit of the variety Marsh Seedless, grown on one of the best 

 southern plantations, is as follows : 



Average weight per fruit 20 Y4 &z- (574 gm) 



Kind 28.72 per cent 



Pulp 71.03 per cent 



Juice 69.63 per cent 



Number of seeds, per fruit 10. c 



Total solids in pulp 12.92 per cert 



Soluble solids in juice 11.52 percent 



Total sugar in juice 7-50 per cent 



Acid in juice 1.28 per cent 



Solids acid ratio 9-o 



It may be taken as proved that the "standard " type of the Marsh Seed- 

 less vanety can be isolated in propagation by bud selection based on the re- 

 cords of the performance of individual trees. This method of selection 

 was put forward at the CaUfornia Fruit Growers' Convention at VisaUn, 

 and if intelligently applied it will probably result in a great improvement 

 in the type, both as regards quantity and quaUty of production. 



LIVE STOCK AND BREEDING. 

 1086- The Effects of Snake Venom on Domestic Animals and the Preparation of An- 



tivenomOUS Serum. — ISIitchell D. T. in The South African Journal of Science, Vol. 

 XII, No. 9, pp. 237-354. Capeto\\n, April, 1916. 



Investigations undertaken in the last quarter of the nineteenth century 

 have shown that the active principles of snake venom are soluble proteins 

 belonging to the same class as enzymes and toxins ; they have also 

 proved that the immunisation of animals against bites can be effected in 

 the same manner as against contagious diseases, and that the serum of im- 

 munised animals possesses specific antivenomous properties. A classi- 

 fied list of venomous snakes and a description of the venom organs (glands, 

 canals and fangs) are given. 



The quantity of venom which can be obtained from a snake at one time 

 depends on a number of factors, namely : the species, the condition and size 

 of the individual, the length of time which has elapsed since the last meal, 

 and the interval since its last bite ; this quantity is also influenced by the 



