320 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLHI. No. 1105 



calculated as lactic acid, while O.Yl per cent, 

 was volatile^, figured as acetic acid. Plain 

 agar was used to obtain the total microbial 

 content. The relation of these two curves 

 to each other compares very favorably with 

 the corresponding curves made from other 

 kinds of ensilage studied. 



Fig. 1. 

 A Comparison of Total Numbers with the Bul- 

 garian Type in Kaffir Ensilage 



The presence of this group, in all normal 

 ensilage, in large numbers, at a very important 

 stage of fermentation, together with the fact 

 that their characteristic fermentation is acid 

 production, seem to offer sufficient evidence 



3 The volatile acids were determined by the 

 method proposed by Dox and Neidig, Research 

 Bulletin, No. 7, Experiment Station, Iowa State 

 College. 



to support the view that a large part of the 

 acid formed in normal ensilage is the result of 

 their activities. 



A more detailed report relating to silaga 

 fermentation will appear later. 



O. W. Hunter 

 l. d. bushnell 

 Department of Bacteriology, 

 Kansas State Ageictjltukal College 



THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE 



AMERICAN PHYSICAL 



SOCIETY 



The eighty-first meeting of the American Phys- 

 ical Society was held at Columbus, Ohio, December 

 27-30, 1915. It was the annual meeting and a 

 joint meeting with Section B of the American As- 

 sociation for the Advancement of Science. Six 

 sessions were held for the reading of papers. 

 President Merritt presided, except on "Wednesday 

 afternoon, which was devoted to a special program 

 of invited addresses arranged by Section B. Vice' 

 president E. P. Lewis was in charge of this session. 

 At the other five sessions the following sixty-three 

 papers were presented: 



"A Mechanical Device for the Rapid Evalua- 

 tion of Certain Variable Exponential Functions,' 

 by Irwin G. Priest. 



' ' On the Value of 7 = Cp/Cv for Hydrogen, ' 

 by Karl K. Darrow. 



"Deviation of Natural Gas from Boyle's Law,' 

 by E. F. Earhart. 



"Preliminary Beport on the Diffusion of Sol 

 ids," by C. E. Van Ostrand and F. P. Dewey. 

 (By title.) 



"On the Properties of Matter at Low Tempera- 

 tures," by Jakob Kunz. (By title.) 



"Pressures and Critical Lengths in the Collapse 

 of Short Tubes," by A. P. Carman. 



"A Photographic Study of the Relative Veloc- 

 ity of Sound Waves of Different Intensities," by 

 Arthur L. Foley. 



"A Preliminary Investigation of an Explosion 

 Wave in a Gas, " by J. B. Dnteher. 



"An Attempt to Detect a Change in the Specific 

 Heat of Selenium with a Change in the Illumina- 

 tion, and also with the Application of an Electric 

 Field," by L. P. Sieg. 



"Wind Velocity and Elevation," by W. J. 

 Humphreys. 



"A Proposed Physical Method for Reducing 

 Radiant Power and its Luminous Value, ' ' by Irwin 

 6. Priest and Chauncy G. Peters. 



