216 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1023 



In order to compare the number of branches 

 per tassel with the ears per plat, 100 was taken 

 as the number on the plats with no manure 

 in each case, and the others expressed in rela- 

 tive numbers. 



RELATIVE NUMBER OF BRANCHES PER TASSEL AND 

 EARS PER PLAT 



The effect of the irrigation water on the 

 number of branches per tassel and the ears per 

 plat is expressed in the following table, which 

 is an average of the three years' results. 



EFFECT OF SOIL MOISTURE ON THE NUMBER OF 

 BRANCHES PER TASSEL AND EABS PEE PLAT 



These tables show that the number of 

 branches per tassel is affected by the condition 

 of the soil, and that there is a close relation- 

 ship between the tassel branches and number of 

 ears produced. 



It seems clear, therefore, that the staminate 

 and the pistillate flowers of maize are affected 

 by the same conditions. 



Frank S. Hahris 



Utah Experiment Station, 

 Logan, Utah 



ascaris suum in sheep 

 An autopsy of an eight-months-old lamb 

 upon which with others of the same age, a 

 feeding experiment was being conducted re- 

 vealed the presence of two female ascarids in 

 the small intestine. By the aid of the key in 



Ransom^ these were diagnosed as Ascaris 

 ovis. These lambs, however, were being fed 

 and kept in pens, previously occupied by hogs, 

 known to be infested with ascarids. The pens 

 had been thoroughly cleaned out before the 

 lambs were placed in them. An examination 

 of the ascarids in the light of this information 

 emphasized their close similarity if not iden- 

 ity to Ascaris suum. 



The mothers of these lambs were shipped up 

 from the Carpenter Test Farm in the spring 

 of 1912. No ascarids have ever been found 

 in the sheep on this farm. The examination 

 of the feces of the ewes from which these 

 lambs were raised has nerer revealed the pres- 

 ence of ascarids. It appears highly probable, 

 therefore, that the lamb got its infestation 

 from the pen in which it was kept and that 

 the eggs from which the worms developed were 

 deposited in the pen by the infested hogs 

 which previously occupied it. 



The status of the different species of asca- 

 rids affecting man, swine and sheep seems to 

 be somewhat in question. It is considered 

 questionable by some authors whether Ascaris 

 ovis (sheep) represents a distinct species, or 

 whether it is simply Ascaris Iwrnbricoides 

 (man) or Ascaris suum (pig) in an unusual 

 host. Circumstantial evidence in the case here 

 recorded strongly indicates that this state- 

 ment may be true. It is also questioned by 

 some whether Ascaris suum and Ascaris lum- 

 hricoides represent distinct species. In fact, 

 Neveu-Lemaire- does not consider the differ- 

 ences between these worms marked enough 

 to establish a separate species and reduces 

 Ascaris suum Goeze, 18Y2, and Ascaris suilla 

 Dujardin, 1845, to synonyms. He calls the 

 ascarids of these two different hosts Ascaris 

 lumhricoides Linne, 1Y58. Feeding experi- 

 ments may serve to clear up this confusion. 



Don C. Mote 

 Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, 



WOOSTER, 0. 



1 Ransom, ' ' The Nematodes Parasitic in the 

 Alimentary Tract of Cattle, Sheep and other Eu- 

 minants, " 1911. 



2 M. Neveu-Lemaire, ' ' Parasitologie des Ani- 

 maux Domestiques, " 1912. 



