SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, No. 1438 



Empliasis was placed on the importance of scien- 

 tific investigations in marketing. Pacts are the 

 only safe basis for action and careful studies are 

 needed in order to obtain essential facts. Agri- 

 cultural experiment stations and departments 

 have studied production problems for years but 

 have taken up marketing activities only recently. 

 Much work in this field is now being undertaken 

 and the future should witness the accumulation of 

 much helpful material. 



Factors involved in the standardisation of 

 tobacco grades: Erle C. Vaughn, University of 

 Kentucky. Standardization of tobacco grades is 

 designed to avoid confusion, to stabilize prices, 

 and to protect both producer and buyer. The 

 factors involved are the conditions which must be 

 considered in bringing about these results. The 

 chief ones are: descriptive terms used, natural 

 grades, manufacturers ' grades, methods of buying 

 and selling, interest of producer in grading, and 

 the many variations which occur both in the 

 product and in opinions and practices concerning 

 it. These factors, their true value and their rela- 

 tion to each other must be carefully considered in 

 establishing practicable standard grades of to- 

 bacco. 



Factors which influence the cost of gain in feed- 

 ing cattle: Wayland Ehoads, University of Ken- 

 tucky. The foundation of the beef cattle indus- 

 try is the production and sale of fat cattle for 

 beef, so when cattle feeding is profitable, both the 

 breeders of purebreds and the producer of feeder 

 steers have a good market for their stock. Pas- 

 ture is the basis of the cheapest gains while the 

 winter feedlot is necessary to produce fat cattle 

 at that time, in order to have an even supply of 

 beef. The cost of putting gains on cattle varies 

 with a number or a combination of things. They 

 are the age of the cattle, the time of year the 

 cattle are fed, whether on grass or on dry feed, 

 tlie length of the feeding period, the feeds fed, 

 conditions under which the cattle are fed such as 

 barn room and water supply, the daily gain which 

 the cattle make, the quality of the cattle, the 

 way they were fed before going on feed, the con- 

 dition of the cattle and last the individual feeder 

 himself. The old saying is true that ' ' the eye of 

 the master f atteneth the cattle. ' ' 



Geology of eggs: G. Davis Buckner and .T. H. 

 Martin", University of Kentucky. An experiment 

 was discussed wherein two lots of ten White Leg- 

 horn hens each, all hatched the same day and 

 coming from a common parent stock, were fed 

 rations consisting of: No. 1, corn, buttermilk and 

 limestone, and No. 2, corn and buttermilk. During 



the first six months of laying lot No. 1 consumed 

 11.1 pounds of limestone and produced 651 eggs 

 while No. 2 laid 343 eggs. Among other things 

 it was shown that the average dried eggshell was 

 4.7 grams in lot 1 and 3.5 grams in lot 2. This 

 means that lot 1 produced 1,789 grams of dried 

 eggshell more than did lot 2. The relation of 

 egg production to geology may be inferred. 



Testing for moisture in transformer oil: C. C. 

 KiPHNGER, Mt. Union College, Alliance, Ohio. 

 Preshly cut sodium dropped into the oil to be 

 tested is a convenient and sensitive means of 

 detecting traces of moisture. Evolution of gas 

 bubbles is produced by smaller quantities of mois- 

 ture than can be detected by the usual test of 

 rubbing the oil with eosin. 



A simple apparatus for demonstrating heat of 

 absorption: C. C. Kiplinger, Mt. Union College, 

 Alliance, Ohio. A Bunsen ice calorimeter with a 

 long horizontal capillary tube attached serves as 

 an air thermometer which may be used to demon- 

 strate thermal changes due to absorption of 

 liquids by charcoal. 



The present status of the cancer problem: (lec- 

 ture) Dr. H. Gideon Wells, professor of pathol- 

 ogy, University of Chicago. Many lantern slides, 

 most of them from photomicrographs, were exliib- 

 ited to show the nature of cancer, which may be 

 described as the continued unnatural growth of 

 cells. This growth cuts off the supply of nourish- 

 ment for other cells and makes conditions more 

 favorable for the growth of bacteria around the 

 affected area. It seems to have been established 

 that the disease is not caused by a specific para- 

 site, nor has a specific causative agent been iso- 

 lated. Improved methods in the use of radium 

 and X-rays seem to give the best promise for the 

 control of cancer, and great advances have been 

 made in the last six years. Drugs are useless. A 

 very important factor is education of the people 

 to recognize superficial cancers and have them 

 treated before they become serious. Cancer is not 

 properly a contagious disease and is not neces- 

 sarily inherited by humans, though it has been 

 shown to follow the Mendelian law of inheritance 

 in rats, and some animals are more susceptible to 

 it than others. A study of statistics shows that 

 cancer is not on the increase, the apparent increase 

 being accounted for largely by more exact diag- 

 noses ; the actual number of deaths caused by 

 cancer is decreasing because of improved methods 

 of treatment. 



Alfred M. Peter, 



Secretary 



May 27, 1922 



