November 14, 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



271 



otherwise the scalding water will be cooled too much ; then dip it 

 in a large vessel containing water heated to not less than 133° and 

 not exceeding 135". Shake or stir it thoroughly, so that the 

 water will reach every grain. Remove the basket occasionally, 

 and add boiling water until the temperature is brought up to the 

 proper point. Keep it in hot water fifteen minutes, then spread 

 out to dry. If this work is thoroughly done, the smut-spores will 

 be destroyed without any injury to the wheat. 



DRIED BREWERS" GRAINS. 



The dairymen of our larger cities and towns who live in the 

 neighborhood of large brewing establishments have long recog- 

 nized refuse brewers' grains as excellent food for milch cattle. 



In brewing, says Mr. William Prear, in Bulletin No. 12 of the 

 Pennsylvania State College Agricultural Experiment Station, the 

 barley is first started to germinating, by which most of the starch 

 is changed to maltose, a soluble compound related to sugar. At 

 the proper stage germination is arrested by drying the grains; and 

 the sprouts, which would impart undesirable qualities to the 

 " wort," are removed by stirring and screening. The maltose is 

 then extracted from the grain by hot water to form the wort, or 

 liquid in which alcoholic fermentation is to be set up. The 

 grain left after the wort is drawn oflf is known as " brewers' 

 grains." 



It is a very watery material, expensive to carry great distances, 

 and difficult to preserve, being highly fermentable. Since, how- 

 ever, it contains nearly all of the nitrogenous matter of the origi- 

 nal grain, with a much smaller percentage of starch, it forms, in 

 spite of its watery condition, a very important cattle-food. 



It has heretofore been found difficult to dry it economically, so 

 as to make its preservation and transportation possible. Recently 

 the Pabst Brewing Company of Milwaukee, Wis., have dried the 

 grain at a low temperature by means of a vacuum process, and 

 without the removal of the last traces of wort by pressure. 



An analysis shows that out of the 31.50 per cent of proteine, 

 17.44 per cent consists of true albuminoids. Careful tests showed 

 no traces of sugar left in the grains, and only 3.17 per cent of 

 starch. 



In composition it lies, in most respects, between linseed-meal 

 and wheat-bran, save that it has nearly twice as much fibre. Malt 

 sprouts are somewhat more highly nitrogenous, and contain only 

 about half as much fibre, but they contain only one-ninth as much 

 fat. which, in this case, is probably very largely digestible and of 

 high nutritive value. 



If placed upon the market at such a price as to compete with 

 other foods of its class, it will undoubtedly, according to Mr. 

 Frear, prove a valuable addition to the list of highly nitrogenous 

 by-products useful as cattle-foods. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 

 There is some difference of opinion as to the original meaning 

 of the word " kangaroo." 'At the meeting of the Linnean Society 

 of New South Wales on Aug. 27, says Nature, the question was 

 discussed, whether, in the dialect of the blacks of the Endeavour 

 River, the word signified " I don't know," and was so used in an- 

 swer to the queries of Capt. Cook's party, or whether, as Cook 

 supposed, it really was the name of the animal in use among the 

 aborigines of the locality. 



— Mr. Cecil Cams- Wilson writes to Nature that he has invented 

 a luminous crayon for the purpo.^e of enabling lecturers to draw on 

 the blackboard when the room is darkened for the use of the lan- 

 tern. He hopes that the invention may prove of value not. only 

 to lecturers who use a lantern, but also (in another form) to those 

 students who wish to take notes. 



— In a long series of articles a native Japanese paper gives some 

 interesting figures about the students of Tokio (republished in 

 Nature). There are 107,312 students in the whole empire in the 

 various colleges and other high schools (primary schools and 

 ordinai-y middle schools excepted). Of this number, 38.114 repre- 

 sent students prosecuting their studies in the capital ; that is to 

 say, about 40 per cent of the whole number are congregated in 



Tokio. Among the 38,114 students, 6,899 are domiciled in Tokio, 

 so that the number of those coming from other localities is 31,315. 

 The amounts which individual students spend vary from $7 or $8 

 to about $15 per month. Taking the average, it may be assumed 

 that each student spends $10 a month, or $120 a year. Thus the 

 total amount of money annually disbursed by these lads is a little 

 over $3,700,000. In other words, money aggregating over three 

 millions and a half is being yearly drawn from the provinces to the 

 capital through this channel. The provinces receive little in re- 

 turn, for few of the students ever go back to their homes, their 

 sole ambition being to remain in the capital, and there rise to 

 eminence in some walk of life. 



— Since the preparation of the article by Professor Angelo Heil- 

 prin in Science of Nov. 7, Mr. Israel C. Russell has made a pre- 

 liminary report on his researches (in conjunction with Mr. Kerr) 

 in the St. Elias region, — researches undertaken under the au- 

 spices of the National Geographic Society. The measui-ements of 

 Kerr, as reported at length in some of the daily papers, give for 

 the height of St. Elias less than 15,000 feet, which thus places 

 Orizaba pre-eminently to the first place among North American 

 mountains. 



— At a meeting of the executive committee of the National 

 Electric Light Association held at the Electric Club, New York 

 City, Nov. 7, the date for holding the thirteenth convention was 

 fixed for Feb. 17, 18, and 19, 1891. Eugene F. Phillips of Provi- 

 dence, where the convention will be held, was appointed chairman 

 of a committee of five, on reception and arrangements, he to ap- 

 point the other members of the committee. Gen. C. H. Barney 

 of New York was appointed chairman of a committee of three on 

 electrical exhibits and transportation, he to appoint the other 

 members of the committee. The committee on papers reported 

 the following as promised, and stated that the prospects of secur- 

 ing two or three more important papers are most excellent (an- 

 nouncements of these will be made later) : " How can the National 

 Electric Light Association best serve Central Station Interests ? " 

 by C. R. Huntley, discussion by A. M. Young; "Distribution of 

 Steam from a Central Station," by F. H. Prentiss, discussion by 

 George H. Babcock; " Distribution and Care of Alternating Cur- 

 rents," by T. Carpenter Smith, discussion by G. H. Blaxter; "Mu- 

 nicipal Control of Electric Railroads," by M. W. Mead, discussion 

 by M. J. Francisco; "The Ferranti System," by C. B, Haskins, 

 discussion by C. L. Edgar. The committee has not only secured 

 the promise of these papers, but has gone a step further, and named 

 a person to open the discussion on each paper. This must inevi- 

 tably tend to bring out the best points of the topic, and to greatly 

 add to the interest in and value of the proceedings. 



— If we were to judge by statistics alone, says Nature of Oct. 

 16, we should be forced to conclude that the present system of 

 granting rewards for the destruction of wild animals in India has 

 had little or no effect in diminishing their numbers or in decreas- 

 ing the mortality caused by them. This conclusion, however, 

 would not be in accordance with facts. The methods according 

 to which the statistics are collected have been so much improved, 

 that no deduction can safely be made from the figures available. 

 This is pointed out in a recent report of the Revenue Department 

 of the Government of Madras. The report continues, " The ex- 

 perience of almost every district officer who has been some years 

 in the country would be that the number of destructive wild 

 animals had largely decreased with the advance of cultivation and 

 the progress of railways, and the evidence of natives would prob- 

 ably be the same. There are parts of the country still, where, 

 owing to the existence of forest and difficulty of access, wild 

 animals of prey continue to exist in large numbers; and it is the 

 case, that, owing to various causes, Europeans, at all events, do 

 less now in the way of killing large game than formerly was the 

 case. They have less time to spare from their official duties, and 

 less money to spend. It can hardly, however, be doubted, that, 

 owing to the existence of the system of granting rewards for ani- 

 mals slain, native shikaris are encouraged to maintain a profession 

 which otherwise probably they would give up from want of sup- 

 port ; and for this reason, if for no other, the board would not wish 

 to see at present any change made in the system of granting re- 



