66 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1124 



measured at various intervals. The results 

 show that dried blood reached its maximum 

 decomposition first, followed by animal tankage 

 and cotton-seed meal, respectively. 



The study of soil bacteriology at present con- 

 sists mainly of either measuring the number 

 of bacteria in the soil, or the kind and inten- 

 sity of functions of the bacteria. The former 

 study is usually designated as taxonomic and 

 the latter as physiological. 



The taxonomic method is at present not 

 much used in the bacteriological studies of 

 soils, because it has failed to furnish very sat- 

 isfactory results. The physiological method, 

 however, has proven more successful, at least 

 from the practical standpoint, and is conse- 

 quently more widely employed. 



As already stated, the physiological method 

 aims to measure the kind and physiological 

 efficiency of the organisms by measuring the 

 product of their action upon nitrogenous sub- 

 stances. The products resulting from the de- 

 composition of the nitrogenous materials con- 

 sist principally of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate 

 amino compounds, etc. Unfortunately the 

 present methods for measuring these end 

 products are for the most part unsatisfactory. 



From the results obtained thus far by the 

 freezing-point method on the decomposition 

 of organic materials in soil, it seems pos- 

 sible that this method may be used to great 

 advantage in conducting physiological studies. 

 It is true that the method gives only the total 

 amount of the decomposed soluble material 

 and tells nothing as to the composition of the 

 product. But is not the amount of ammonifi- 

 cation, nitrification, etc., taken as criterion of 

 the decomposibility of the substance and the 

 physiological efficiency of the organisms? So 

 may the total depression be taken to represent 

 the same criterion. The decomposition prod- 

 ucts will undoubtedly exert a solvent action 

 upon the mineral constituents of the soil, and 

 thus influence the total depression. There are 

 evidences, however, which go to indicate that 

 this influence is small (aside from the chem- 

 ical combination) and consequently the error 

 would be comparatively insignificant. On the 

 other hand, the study will be only comparative. 



It appears that the freezing-point method 

 may be used to great advantage in making 

 comparative studies of the decomposibility of 

 various organic substances, in the same kind 

 of soil, or the decomposing power of different 

 classes of soil on the same organic substance, 

 or of the same soil differently treated, etc. 

 Such studies can be conducted very con- 

 veniently, under the most natural conditions, 

 and the results thus obtained will doubtless 

 lead to very important and true conclusions 

 concerning the availability of various nitro- 

 genous materials, decomposing power of soils, 

 etc. 



Studies along these lines are now being con- 

 ducted in the laboratory. 



George J. Bouyoucos 

 Besearch Soil Laboratory, 



Michigan Experiment Station 



the synonymy of oxyuris vermicularis, 

 the pin worm of the human intestine 



In 1758 Linnaeus described the pin worm of 

 man under the name of Ascaris vermicular is. 

 In 1803 Zeder transferred it to the genus 

 Fusaria (Ascaris renamed). In 1819 Bremser 

 placed it in Oxyuris (type 0. equi). Baird in 

 1853 1 published a manuscript name of Leach's 

 Enterobius vermicularis. 



The species has been generally called Oxyuris 

 vermicularis until Stiles in 1905 gave it the 

 generic name of Oxyurias, overlooking Leach's 

 name. Now Seurat in 1916 2 proposes the name 

 Fusarella, evidently being unaware of the gen- 

 eric names it has received subsequent to 

 Oxyuris. 



The species clearly does not belong in the 

 same genus with Oxyuris equi, and as Ente- 

 robius is the earliest generic name available, 

 the name of the species is Enterobius vermi- 

 cularis (Linnssus, 1758) Leach, 1853. 



Albert Hassall 

 Zoological Division, 

 Bureau op Animal Industry, 

 U. S. Department op Agriculture 



i ' ' Catalogue of the Species of Entozoa, or In- 

 testinal Worms, Contained in the Collection of the 

 British Museum," p. 108. 



2 Compt. rend. Soc. de biol, Par., Vol. 79, p. 67. 



