October, 1912.] 



317 



the Congress, it was decided to take steps to hold the next Congress in 

 London, in accordance with the unanimous desire expressed at a General 

 Assembly of the International Association. A British Section of the 

 of the International Association has been formed, which will be responsi- 

 ble for the organisation of the Congress in London in 1914. 



The work of the Association is not only of interest to Departments of 

 Agriculture and Forestry throughout the Empire but also to planters, and 

 to merchants and manufacturers who are concerned with tropical and 

 colonial raw materials. 



It is essential that a large membership should be secured for the 

 British Section in order that the London Congress may be successful, and 

 it is hoped that all those interested in tropical agriculture and develop- 

 ment throughout the Empire will join the British Section of the Inter- 

 national Association. 



The annual subscription for members of the British Section is one 

 pound, payable on the 1st January in each year. 



Members of the British Section will have the privilege of taking part 

 in the London Congress without further special payment. They will also 

 receive the publications of the International Association as these are issued. 

 In addition, the quarterly " Bulletin of the Imperial Institute" will be 

 supplied to them free of charge. A reading and writing room will be 

 reserved at the Imperial Institute for use of members of the section when 

 in London, and members will also be entitled to make use of the general 

 library and reading-rooms of the Imperial Institute. 



Subscriptions may be paid by ciossed cheque or money order, payable 

 to the Secretary, British Section, International Association of Tropical, 

 Agriculture and Colonial Development, and, — in the case of money orders 

 should be drawn on the General Post Office, London. 



Letters and subscriptions should be addressed to "The Secretary, 

 British Section, International Association of Tropical Agriculture and 

 Colonial Development, Imperial Institute, London, S.W." 



DIETIC VALUE OF SUGAR. 



Professor Metchnikoff, the famous savant, speaking before the 

 Academy of Sciences, stated that, as the result of long experiments, he 

 had discovered that senility was caused to a great extent by poisons 

 which were set up by thB intestinal bacteria. These poisons, originating 

 in the intestinal flora, were chiefly responsible for the production of 

 lesions (injuries) in the liver, brain and arteries, and produced an effect 

 which was practically the same as old age. 



Experiments showed that vegetables which were rich in sugar, such 

 as dates, beetroot and carrots, produced none of these poisons. Professor 

 Metchnikoff's object, therefore, was to create a sugar-producing centre 

 in the large bowel, where the fight between the healthy and unhealthy 

 microbes takes place. As sugar consumed in the ordinary way is practi- 

 cally all absorbed before reaching the large bowel, he decided to form it by 

 means of a microbe. 



The necessary microbe was discovered in the flora of a dog. Experi- 

 ments made on human beings with this microbe, which Professor Metch- 

 nikoff calls the Glyco Bacter, have had most conclusive results. A diet 

 of two meals a day, consisting of 4] oz. of meat, 17| oz, of sour milk, and 

 vegetables and fruit, to which were added Glyco Bacteria, reduced these 

 intestinal poisons to a minimum which had never before been attained 

 with any diet,— London Produce Markets' Review. 



