April 18, 1902.J 



SCIENCE. 



G29 



Pasteurized, it is possible to produce only a 

 mild butter. lu order to procure the more pro- 

 nounced flavor as desired here, the cream is 

 allowed to ripen and a 'starter' removed for 

 the following day. In this way butter having a 

 characteristic flavor may be produced without 

 the use of a pure culture. Professor Conn be- 

 lieved that the ripening of cream takes place 

 in two stages; the first being the rapid growth 

 of certain albumen-destroying bacteria; and 

 the second, the rapid growth of lactic-acid- 

 producing bacteria. In completely ripened 

 cream the latter only are present and consti- 

 tute the pure Danish cultures which give mild 

 butter. The former seem to be the cause of 

 the stronger flavor desired in America. They 

 do not affect the flavor of the Danish butter, 

 as they are all destroyed in the process of 

 Pasteurization. It is interesting to note that 

 pure cultures are used in this country to a 

 greater extent by the producers of oleomar- 

 garine and 'process' butter than by the dairy- 

 men. 



The second paper of the evening was read 

 by Mr. S. C. Prescott, of the Massachusetts 

 Institute of Technology, who gave an inter- 

 esting review of 'The Nature of Enzyme Re- 

 actions.' 



Henry Fay, 

 Secretary. 



ONONDAGA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



The 54th regular meeting of the Academy 

 was held in the Historical Rooms, March 21, 

 1902. . 



Dr. Charles W. Plargitt spoke on 'Bird 

 Migrations and Food Habits,' emphasizing 

 the remarkable exactness in time with which 

 certain of the birds annually arrive. The 

 time, manner and causes of migrations were 

 fully discussed. In speaking of the 'Food 

 Habits' of birds. Dr. Hargitt pleaded for a 

 fair balancing of the results found in the 

 analyses of the stomach contents, as a single 

 berry vs. the harmful insects destroyed, and 

 accentuated the importance of avoiding prej- 

 udices. 



Professor G. A. Bailey spoke -of the 'Traits 

 of Birds,' mentioning the cowbird as a case 

 of degeneration. It was gradually giving up 



nest-building and becoming more slovenly, 

 as was also true for the American cuckoo. He 

 also spoke of the difference in the shape of 

 birds' eggs and suggested that it was due 

 largely to differences in the kind of nests. 

 P. F. Schneider. 

 Syracuse, N. Y. 



the new YORK association OF BIOLOGY 



teachers. 

 The second regular meeting of the Associa- 

 tion for 1902 was held in the Board of Educa- 

 tion building, on Friday evening, April 4. 

 There was a general discussion on the subject 

 of ' Field Work,' introduced by Miss Kate Bur- 

 nett Hixon and Miss Mary D. Womack. 

 G. W. Hunter, Jr., 



Secretary. 



DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



AN AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. 



I Aji not aware whether any discussion has 

 been published, but it must have been keenly 

 felt by everybody associated with the physical 

 sciences, at least, that one of the important 

 issues in the near future is the systematiza- 

 tion and consolidation of the journals of 

 American science. It seems to me that what 

 we need is a clearing house or, better, a trust 

 of American research literature, and the pool- 

 ing in the present instance will be all the more 

 justifiable as it will be nearly pure altruism. 

 Few of the higher order of journals — I mean 

 those which oifer non-popular scientific arti- 

 cles — really pay. Many of them are conducted 

 at a loss. Perhaps for this very reason some 

 plan of amalgamation may be feasible. 



In physics the conditions* are in every way 

 deplorable. Much, perhaps most, of our best 

 work goes out of the country, with the result 

 that American journals, being in a sense super- 

 fluous to the foreigner, are but little read 

 abroad. I have no statistics ; what I state are 

 merely the convictions of more or less desul- 

 tory observations; but I am afraid they are 

 even regarded with just a little supercilious- 

 ness at home. 



* Much to the same effect might be said of 

 chemical and of geological journals, though I 

 natxirally shrink from it. 



