OCTOBEB 29, 1909] 



SCIENCE 



605 



ripe, fresh date deteriorates very rapidly in 

 flavor, due largely to the inversion of the cane 

 sugar. For example, the unripe fruit of the 

 seedling used in these experiments contains 

 fifteen or twenty per cent, of cane sugar when 

 ready to ripen, but very soon after complete 

 ripeness this cane sugar disappears. This is 

 due to the release of the intracellular in- 

 vertase at the time of ripening. Much of the 

 fine quality of the delicious Deglet Noor date 

 is due to the nearly complete absence of in- 

 vertase, which allows the cane sugar to re- 

 main permanently as such. By artificial 

 ripening at their destination, the more in- 

 ferior invert sugar varieties can be placed 

 upon the table of the distant consumer with 

 their maximum quota of cane sugar and con- 

 sequently of flavor. 



After moderate treatment with acetic acid, 

 the tannin of the date has nd^ yet become en- 

 tirely insoluble but all astringency disap- 

 pears in the next few hours. The intracellu- 

 lar invertase, however, passes into solution to 

 quite an appreciable extent immediately after 

 the treatment, and probably other intracellular 

 or insoluble catalytic agents, are released 

 simultaneously. The ripening processes are 

 initiated not only by acetic acid, but also by 

 a number of other chemicals such as acetic 

 ether vapor, which acts practically as well as 

 acetic acid but greatly impairs the flavor. 

 Soaking some hours in a solution of potassium 

 acetate stimulates the process in a very 

 marked way but ammonium acetate has very 

 little effect. Potassium sulphate shows no ac- 

 tion. Oxalic acid shows a slight effect, while 

 its homologue, succinic acid, has a very 

 marked action. Benzoic and salicylic acids, 

 and the acid amides (at least as regards 

 acetamid) act promptly. The vapor of hydro- 

 chloric acid is without effect, but dates ex- 

 posed to this acid for two days responded to 

 acetic vapor. A detailed study of the effects 

 of various groups of reagents is being made 

 and the results will be published as soon as 

 completed. 



A. E. Vinson 



Arizona Ageicultubal 

 ExPEBiMENT Station, 

 Tucson, Abizosa 



NOTES ON THE PARASITISM OF CYTODITES NUDU8 

 AND H^MAPHYSALIS CIIORDEILIS' 



I. Cylodites nudus. 



Among the many varieties of acariasis 

 found in the United States, that produced by 

 Cytodites nudus is comparatively rare. Fur- 

 thermore, in the cases where Cylodites has 

 been mentioned in this country, in Europe and 

 in Australia, it has usually been described as 

 a parasite of the trachea, lungs, air sacs and 

 other respiratory passages of fowl and pheas- 

 ants. Gerlach," however, has attributed to it 

 enteritis of poultry, and ZundeF considers 

 these mites as the causative agents of enteritis 

 and peritonitis, and Holzendorff' also found 

 Cytodites embedded in the liver and kidneys 

 of diseased fowls. It is the purpose of the 

 present note to describe the conditions of in- 

 fection observed by the writer in two cases of 

 acariasis caused by Cytodites nudus, occur- 

 ring in the yards of the Rhode Island Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station at Kingston. 



The first case was that of a female golden 

 pheasant. On December 21 it was observed 

 that the bird was unable to walk, ate little, 

 and showed a slight diarrhea. On December 

 22 a dose of castor oil was administered. 

 From this time on the bird failed in strength, 

 but lost very little flesh until it died on Jan- 

 uary 4, on which date the post mortem ex- 

 amination was made. 



The internal organs were, as a whole, nor- 

 mal, except for the lungs, which were slightly 

 congested. The heart was normal, though the 

 most of the pericardial fluid appeared to have 

 escaped into the thoracic cavity. Inside the 

 pericardium, and on the surface of the heart 

 itself, were a large number of round whitish 

 bodies, about ..5 mm. in diameter, which were 

 recognized upon microscopic examination as 

 identical with Cytodites nudus. Upon 



' Contribution No. 6 from the Division of Biol- 

 ogy of the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, Kingston, R. I. 



^ Gerlach, Magazin fur Thierheilkunde, Berlin, 

 18.59. 



' Zundel, Journ. de Med. Velerinaire, Lyons, 

 1864. 



* Holzendorff, Archiv filr wissensch. und prakt. 

 Tkeilk, 188.5. 



