191 1.] School of Agriculture, Cambridge. 409 



between the Madin^ley and Huntingdon Roads, and within 

 little more than a mile of the laboratory. 



The accommodation provided by the new building is taxed 

 to the utmost, especially in regard to providing room for 

 research work, of which the amount now being done is 

 considerable. 



The Chemical Department has been engaged, for the last 

 three years, in an important investigation of the properties 

 of the protein of linseed. It is expected that a method will 

 be devised which will shorten in a very marked degree the 

 time required for research of this nature. The routine methods 

 of hydrolysis, esterification, and separation of the amino 

 acids have required, in the case of linseed, nearly two years 

 of continuous work. It is hoped that the new method, when 

 perfected, will shorten the work of protein analysis very con- 

 siderably. Investigations on the composition of mangolds 

 have been going on for many years, and useful results have 

 been published. Recent work has led to the separation from 

 mangold roots of a non-protein nitrogenous body, which will 

 be investigated with a view to ascertaining the part played 

 by such bodies in nutrition. It would appear that the value 

 of protein substances in feeding stuffs is influenced by the 

 nature of the amides to which they are linked, as well as 

 by the composition of their respective proteins. With this 

 investigation Dr. Hopkins of the Physiology School w^ill be 

 associated. With the aid of the Development Fund, a new 

 laboratory for experiments on the digestibility of foods is 

 being erected on a site adjoining that of the Animal Institute 

 on the outskirts of the town. The latter was, until recently, 

 maintained by four of the Professors for the purpose of 

 experiments on animals. It has now been acquired by the 

 University with funds provided by the Development Com- 

 mission. At the Institute, experiments are now being con- 

 ducted in connection with tick-borne diseases of cattle, the 

 effects of castration and spaying of pigs and sheep, the 

 pigmentation of the fatty tissues in swine, and digestibility 

 o{ foods. 



A bee-house has been recently erected for the prosecution 

 of research on the Isle of Wight bee disease. 



Another problem under investigation in the Chemical 



