August 18, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



221 



Applying this factor to results of experiments 

 upon steers with the respiration calorimeter at the 

 Institute of Animal Nutrition of the Pennsyl- 

 vania State College, in which the amount of 

 methane excreted and the amount of heat emitted 

 after the ingestion of a linown amount of food 

 were determined, it is found that in the ease of a 

 hay ration 32 per cent, of the ' ' heat of diges- 

 tion" arose from the methane fermentation of 

 the carbohydrates. 



Effects of the Quantity of Protein Ingested on 

 the Nutrition of Animals: II., On the Weight 

 of some of the Vital Organs of Lambs: W. D. 

 Careoll and A. D. Emmett. 



Effects of the Quantity of Protein Ingested on the 

 Nutrition of Animals: III., On the Ash and 

 Total Phosphorus of Flesh from Lambs: E. H. 

 Williams and A. D. Emmett. 



Effects of the Quantity of Protein Ingested on the 

 l^utrition of Animals: IV., On the Creatin of 

 Flesh from Sivine and Lambs: W. E. Joseph 

 and A. D. Emmett. 



A Cage Designed for Metabolism Experiments on 



Goats: A. R. Eose. 



In this station it was found most practical, 

 when using the cow, in metabolism experiments, 

 to keep men constantly on the watch to collect the 

 excreta. This method is exceedingly laborious, 

 and a smaller animal which could be caged easily 

 was sought as a substitute for the unwieldy cow. 

 For this purpose the goat serves admirably, and 

 it is rather remarkable that an animal with so 

 many qualifications for metabolism work has re- 

 ceived so little attention. The goat is of con- 

 venient size to be readily handled, and it takes 

 rations and yields excreta of very satisfactory 

 bulk and might very well represent the herbivora 

 in animal experimentation. It becomes quickly at 

 home in the cage and adjusted to the demands of 

 the investigator. 



The cage consists essentially of an elevated 

 wooden box, with gratings in the upper part, to 

 admit light and air. Inside wooden walls are 

 covered by galvanized sheet iron. One side is 

 attached only at the top by means of hinges, and 

 forms a door to admit or remove the goat, and for 

 convenience in milking. 



The floor is a heavy wire screen with wires suffi- 

 ciently far apart to let all waste pass through, yet 

 allowing five wires for each foot to rest upon. 



Under the screen, at the front end, is a pan to 

 collect any food dropped in eating. Under the 



rest of the floor is the device for separating the 

 excreta from one another, consisting of two gal- 

 vanized sheet iron parts, the hopper and urine pan. 

 This hopper terminates in a trough leading toward 

 the front end of the cage. This trough has at the 

 point of junction with the hopper, an opening in 

 its bottom protected by strands of wire, by which 

 the dung pellets coming down the hopper are de- 

 flected into a suitable removable receptacle stand- 

 ing on the floor under the front end of the cage. 

 The urine passes through this hole into a shallow 

 pan suspended from the hopper trough, immedi- 

 ately beneath. This pan has an elongated spout 

 leading forward through which the urine flows into 

 another receptacle standing on the floor beside the 

 one provided for the dung. 



The cage is simple in construction. It was made 

 by local carpenters with the aid of a tinsmith, at 

 a cost of thirty-seven dollars. The complete cage 

 occupies a floor space of about two by four feet, 

 is seven feet high and can be easily carried by 

 two men. The cage is equally applicable to studies 

 on sheep. 



On the Lipins of the Heart Muscle of the Ox: 



Jacob Eosenbloom. 



(Prom the Laboratory of Biological Chemistry 

 of Columbia University, at the College of Physi- 

 cians and Surgeons, New York.) 



MacLean^ has found that the essential fat of the 

 liver has the properties of phospholipin. He thinks 

 it probable that the fatty matter from certain 

 other organs is of the same nature. He finds by 

 extraction of the liver with ether and alcohol, at 

 room temperature, that 84 per cent, of the total 

 extract is phospholipin in quality, whereas, if the 

 extraction is carried out at the temperature of the 

 boiling solvent, only about 40 per cent, of the 

 extract partakes of the properties of phospholipin. 

 MacLean believes that such treatment with the 

 boiling solvent causes a cleavage of the tissue 

 phospholipin, with a consequent increase In the 

 amount of neutral fat in the extract. 



In a study of the lipins of the heart muscle of 

 the ox, practically identical percentages of neutral 

 fat and phospholipin' were found by the writer in 

 the ether and alcohol extracts which had been 

 obtained by treatment with the respective solvents 

 at room temperature and also at their boiling tem- 

 peratures. It is possible, however, that the ether 

 and alcohol extracts of the liver contain sub- 

 stances of a lipin nature which are more easily 



' MacLean, Biochemical Journal, 1909, IV., p. 



