May 1, 1894:.] Supplement to the " Tropical AcjHculturiM.'' 
789 
the long-billed snipe, sand-piper, cranes, and 
plover. 
The Cursores or ruunere are characterised by 
the rudimentary condition of the wings which 
are useless as organs of flight, and by the compen- 
sating length and strength of the legs. The bones 
have few air cells and the ridge or keel to which 
the muscles of flight are attached iu flying birds, 
is absent. The hinder toe nf the leg is wanting 
in all but the apteryx, in which it is rudimentary. 
The front toes are eitlier two or three in number, 
and are furnished with strong blunt claws. 
Among the runners are the ostrich, cassowary and 
emu. 
The Ma-sores or scratching birds — or as they 
are often called the gallinaceous birds — are 
characterised by having the upper mandible of 
the bill convex, and having a membranous space 
at its base in which the nostrils are pierced. The 
nostrils are protected by a cartilagenoiis scale. 
The feet have four toes each, three in front and a 
short hind toe ; and in typical forms the toes are 
provided with strong blunt claws suitable for 
scratching. The feet of the pigeons, however, are 
generally adapted for perching. The rasoiial 
birds are divided into two well-marked groups, 
la the first of these are the fowls, pheasants, 
grouse, guinea-fowl, turkey, pea fowl and other 
allied birds. In the second division are the 
pigeons and doves, distinguished by the fact 
that the feet are slender, and adapted for perch- 
ing while the voice is of a gentle, soft, and 
melancholy character. The fowls and game birds, 
on the other hand, are mostly terrestrial iti 
their habits, and have strong feet with claws not 
suited for perching on trees, while their voice is 
of a harsh, dissoiuint nature, and their flight 
comparatively feeble, b'owls, turkeys, guinea- 
fowl, pigeons and doves are all more or less 
domestic animals, though only fowls and turkeys 
of this group, together with ducks (and some- 
times geese) are found in the ordinary poulrty- 
yard. 
STERILIZED MILK. 
At the request of the Secretary of Agricul- 
ture, the chief of I lie Bureau of Animal Industry, 
California, has furnished the following simple 
directions for the steriliziition of milk: — 
" The sterilization of milk for children, now 
quite extensively practised in order to destroy the 
injurious germs which it may contain, can be 
satisfactorily accomplished with very simple ap- 
paratus. The vessel containing the milk, which 
luiiy be the bottle from which it is to be used or 
any other suitable vessel, is placed inside of a 
larger vessel of metal, which contains the water. 
If a bottle, it is plugged with absorbent cotton, if 
this is at hand, or in its absence other clean 
cotton will answer. A small fruit jar, loosely 
covered, may be used instead of a bottle. The 
requirements are simply that the interior vessel 
'shall 1)0 raised about half an inch above the bot- 
tom of tht! other, and thai ti;i> water shall reach 
ui^arly or quito as high as llie milk. The appa- 
ratus is then luviled on a range or stove until the 
water roaches a tt^mperature of 155 degrees Fah- 
renheit, when it i-i removed from the heat and 
k.'pi tightly (•over(>(l for half an hour. The milk 
boules a'-e lUrix taken out and kept iu a cool 
j place. The milk may be used any time within 24 
I huurs. A temperature of 1-50 degrees maintained 
for lialf an hour is sufficient to destroy any germs 
likely to be present iu the milk, and it is found 
in practice that raising the temperature to 15o 
degrees and then allowing it to .stand in the 
heated water for half an hoar insures the jtroper 
temperature for the required time. The tempera- 
ture should not be raised above 15.5 degrees, 
otherwise the taste and quality of the milk will 
be impaired. 
"The simplest plan is to take a tin pail and 
invert a perforated tin pie-plate in the bottom, or 
have made for it a removable false bottom per- 
forated with holes and having legs half an inch 
high, to allow circulation of the water. The milk 
bottle is set on this false bottom, and suflicient 
water is put into the pail to reach the level of 
the surface of the milk in the bottle. A hole may 
be punched in the cover of the pail, a cork in- 
serted, and a chemical thermometer put through 
the cork, so that the bulb dips into the water. 
The temperature can thus be watched without 
removing the cover. If preferred an ordinary 
dairy thermometer may be used and the tempera- 
ture tested from time to time by removing the 
lid. This is very easily arranged, and is just as 
satisfactory as the patented apparatus sold for the 
same purpose.'" 
GENERAL ITEMS. 
In a memorandum on experiments with pulses 
by Ml'. Valder of the Department of Agriculture, 
New South Wales, the following reference is 
made to pigeon pea iCajanus indicvs or Dhall 
plant : — " As a forage plant it should prove of 
value, especially in rotation with other fodder 
crops .-ueh as maize, sorghum, etc. Six months 
afte-r sowing tiie yield of green fodder (in a cli- 
mate which is considered rather too cold for it) 
was at the rate of 12 tons per acre. I cut a 
cpiantity and gave it to horses and cattle, and 
found that they ate it with great relish." 
The experiment with Lathyvus sylvestris would 
seem to have yielded as unsatisfactory results in 
New South Wales as in other Colonies and in 
India. AVe are told that at the end of nine 
months the plants were not more than 6 to 10 
inches high. " Of the fifty-four pulses sown 
this one was by far the slowest grower and at the 
end of nine months produced about half a ton of 
green plant per acre from reports 
received by the Department it has certainly failed 
iu giving a good yield or withstanding the heat, 
and iu many instances has died out. '' Our ex- 
peii' iico at I he School was quite similar to thi.s. 
Craspedia pleiocephla a rather ornamental 
plant of the order compositie, with yellow 
flower heads, is said to furnish an admirabie sub- 
stitute for feathers or kapok for filling beds, 
pillows, or cushions. The material is got from 
the mature flowers. 
ilr. Maiden, the consulting botanist of the 
N. S. W. Department of .\griculture make.'* the 
following remarks regarding Hihi.icu,< tiliacfus 
(our nelipatta. <o common c- a hedge plant): — 
Of all the species of hibiscus, //. tilinreu.i, hn? 
