376 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. n. No. 38. 



fusiform. It spreads over the solid me- 

 dium ft-eely as a rather thickish film of 

 radiate, lichenose structure and broadly 

 lobate margin. 



It multiplies very freely in the blood of 

 insects, doubtless producing there a toxic 

 substance which kills the host, very com- 

 monly within two or three days of the first 

 infection. This interpretation of its action 

 is based on the promptly fatal effect pro- 

 duced on small insects by a watery infu- 

 sion of agar cultures of this bacillus. 

 Young chinch bugs perish in such an infu- 

 sion in less than a minute, and adults in 

 two or three minutes, while medium-sized 

 caterpillars (Datana) dipped into it for ten 

 seconds have begun to writhe and roll in 

 evident distress within two minutes, dying 

 within five or six. 



Chinch bugs are readily infected by sim- 

 ple exposure to squash bugs dead with this 

 disease, and die under this infection more 

 promptly, more rapidly, and in larger pro- 

 portion than if exposed to inoculation with 

 Sporotrichum. S. A. Foebes. 



Champaign, III. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND NEWS. 

 The 16th and final volume of the first 

 series of the Index Catalogue of the library 

 of the Siirgeon General's Office of the 

 United States army has now been published. 

 As is well known this is practically a com- 

 plete index of medical literature, theUbrary 

 now containing 116,847 books and 191,598 

 pamphlets. The present volume includes 

 12,759 author titles representing 4,857 vol- 

 umes and 11,613 pamphlets. It also con- 

 tains 8,312 subject titles of separate books 

 and 13,280 titles of articles and periodicals. 

 Tlie subjects in the present volumes having 

 the gi-eatest number of entries are water(s), 

 women and wounds. Owing to the large 

 increase in the library since the publi- 

 cation of the index was begun, a second 

 series is needed and the manuscript has 



been prepared which will probably make 

 five volumes of the same size and stjde as 

 those already published. The present vol- 

 ume is probably the last that will be issued 

 under the personal supervision of Dr. John 

 S. Billings, to whom both the catalogue and 

 the library itself are in chief measure due. 



According to reports in The British Med- 

 ical Journal the milk supply of London is 

 unusually bad . Of fifty samples of ordinary 

 milk examined by Mr. Cassal, twenty-four 

 were found to be below the lowest standard 

 and ten more below the standard requiring 

 3.5 per cent, of fat. Boric acid preparations 

 had been added to more than one-fourth of 

 the samples. The bacteriological examina- 

 tion made by Mr. Sidney Kowland is still 

 more serious. It showed that every sam- 

 ple examined contained fiscal matter, fully 

 90 per cent, of all the micro-organisms dis- 

 covered being bacillus coli communis. 



The Revue Scientifique states that M. Zach- 

 arewiez, professor of agriculture at Vau- 

 cluse, has cultivated strawberries under col- 

 ored glass with the following results: (1) 

 The best and earliest fruits were obtained 

 under ordinary glass. (2) Orange glass 

 increased the leaves but injured the quan- 

 tity, size and earliness of the fruit. (3) 

 Violet glass gave more berries, but they 

 were small, inferior in quality and late. 



Me. David T. Day, Chief of the Division 

 of Mineral Resources of the United States 

 Geological Survey, has issued a bulletin on 

 the mineral products of the United States 

 for 1885 to 1894. The total value of me- 

 tallic products during 1894 was $218,168,- 

 788. This shows a decided decrease, the 

 products during 1890, 1891 and 1892 having 

 been over $300,000,000 in value. The non- 

 metallic mineral products for 1894, of which 

 coal is bj' far the most important, are valued 

 at $308,486,774, M'hich is also a decrease 

 compared with the immediately preceding 

 years. 



