Magazine  of  the  School  of  Agriculture . 
Mr.  Charles  Basnayake  of  Urugala  School  has 
sent  us  a small  parcel  of  onions  raised  in  his 
School  graden.  They  are  of  exceptionally  good 
size  and  quality  for  Ceylon-grown  bulbs. 
The  Government  dairy  buildings  are  now 
complete.  They  occupy  a site  on  the  new  grant 
of  land  to  the  right  of  the  present  School 
buildings,  and  consist  of  a cattle  shed  providing 
accommodation  for  70  cows,  and  a block  of  four 
rooms  to  be  used  as  store  room,  milk  room, 
office  and  manager’s  room. 
A Veterinary  School  is  about  to  be  opened 
in  Cawnpore,  the  object  of  which  is  to  supply 
the  districts  of  the  North-West  with  practical 
men  to  aid  in  the  suppression  of  cattle  disease, 
perform  simple  operations  upon  cattle  and  horse 
stock,  and  help  the  agriculturist  generally  with 
his  farm  animals.  It  would  be  an  excellent 
thing  if  the  Government  of  Ceylon  utilized  some 
of  the  young  men  who  have  been  trained  by 
the  Colonial  Veterinary  Surgeon  at  the  School 
of  Agriculture.  These  students  might  be  deputed 
to  perform  the  double  duties  of  agricultural 
instructors  and  veterinary  helps.  Mr.  Lye’s  work 
would  undoubtedly  be  more  effectual  if  he  had 
a few  men  under  him  to  aid  him  in  carrying 
out  his  schemes. 
The  Easter  holidays  will  include  the  whole  of 
April,  the  School  opening  again  on  the  2nd  of  May. 
Unexpected  but  very  welcome  showers  fell 
pretty  often  in  March,  and  vegetation  generally 
has  been  greatly  invigorated  thereby.  There  are, 
however,  complaints  from  some  quarters  that  the 
rain  was  rather  too  heavy  and  caused  some 
damage. 
Mr.  J.  A.  Kodippily,  lately  a student  of  the 
School  of  Agriculture,  has  been  given  a post  in 
the  Forest  Department,  and  is  at  present  stationed 
at  Hambantota.  Mr.  Kodippily  ought  to  prove 
a very  useful  officer. 
ZOOLOGICAL  NOTES  FOR  AGRICULTURAL 
STUDENTS. 
The  Trichina  Spiralis  is  a minute  round  worm 
of  hair-like  dimensions  and  is  found  lodged  in 
the  muscles  in  lemon-shaped  cysts,  lying  coiled 
upon  itself  in  a spiral  manner.  When  fully 
developed  its  extreme  length  does  not  exceed 
one-eighth  of  an  inch,  and  for  its  detection 
a very  strong  lens  or  a low  power  of  the  micros- 
cope is  necessary.  It  is  calculated  by  Dr. 
Sutton  that  one  inch  of  swine’s  flesh  may  contain 
100,000  parasites.  The  cyst  wall  is  partly 
membranous  and  partly  calcareous  ; the  presence 
of  the  calcareous  matter  protecting  the  parasite 
against  the  effects  of  salt  and  to  a limited  extent 
against  smoke,  heat  and  cold.  If  a portion  of 
trichinised  flesh  is  ingested  by  man,  the  trichinae, 
by  the  combined  action  of  gastric  juice  and 
pepsin  become  liberated,  and  in  the  course  of  a 
few  days  they  originate  a new  brood,  the  mem- 
bers of  which  pass  through  the  walls  of  the 
intestines  and  find  their  way  to  the  voluntary 
muscles,  where  they  are  found  ia  the  largest 
numbers,  penetrating  as  far  as  the  tips  of  the 
fingers.  The  condition  produced  by  the  parasites 
is  known  technically  as  Trichinosis  or  Trichi- 
niasis.  Each  female  trichina  gives  birth  to  a 
brood  varying  in  number  from  several  hundred 
to  a thousand  or  more,  and  it  is  calculated  that 
the  parasite  may  retain  its  vitality  in  the 
encysted  state  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years. 
Looking  at  the  vast  importance  of  the  question 
it  is  most  necessary  that  we  should  always 
be  on  the  alert  for  such  flesh.  Trichinosis  is 
a painful  and  not  uncommonly  fatal  affection 
somewhat  resembling  rheumatic  fever.  If  the 
patient — man  or  pig — has  sufficient  vitality  to 
bear  up  under  the  severe  symptoms  which  last 
during  the  migration  of  the  parasites,  and  till 
they  become  encysted  in  the  muscles,  he  is  safe, 
since  they  cannot  become  sexually  mature  or 
develope  further  until  again  transferred  to  the 
alimentary  canal  of  some  other  animal. 
The  following  directions  were  given  by  Mr. 
George  Morehouse  in  the  Veterinarian  of  July, 
1879,  for  examination  for  trichina Cut  thin 
longitudinal  sections  from  the  extremities  of 
muscles,  and  place  the  sections  in  a watch  glass, 
covering  them  with  acetic  acid.  In  a few 
minutes  the  tissues  will  be  apparent  enough  to 
enable  one  to  see  the  letters  through  the 
specimen  when  the  watch  glass  is  placed  on  a 
printed  page.  Drain  off  the  acid,  add  water  and 
examine,  or  wash  and  transfer  to  a glass  slip 
(pretty  large  with  large  covers  for  a number 
of  sections  at  once)  either  in  water  or  glycerine 
and  cover.  In  examining  with  the  microscope,  a 
power  of  25  diameters,  obtained  with  a good  2 
inch  objective  and  2 inch  ocular,  is  amply 
sufficient. 
In  addition  to  the  above-mentioned  forms,  it 
may  be  noted  that  minute  parasitic  worms  are 
not  uncommonly  found,  sometimes  in  large  num- 
bers in  the  blood  of  various  animals,  including 
the  dog,  man  himself  and  various  birds.  Their 
origin,  development,  and  the  mode  in  which  they 
are  introduced  into  the  blood  have  not  yet  been 
clearly  understood.  The  most  remarkable  species 
is  the  Filaria  sanguinis-nomines,  which  in  its 
immature  state  inhabits  the  blood  of  man 
in  intertropical  regions,  its  presence  being  asso- 
ciated with  chyluria,  hfematuria,  and  other  morbid 
affections. 
It  has  been  mentioned  that  some  of  the  nematodes 
are  free  and  not  parasitic  in  their  habits.  These 
free  nematodes  constitute  the  family  anguillulidse, 
among  the  more  familiar  of  which  are  the  vinegar 
eel  ( Anguillula  aceti)  and  Tylenckus  tritici,  the 
latter  producing  a sort  of  excrescence  or  gall  upon 
the  ear  of  wheat,  causing  the  disease  commonly 
known  as  “Purples,”  “Ear-cockle,”  and  “Pepper- 
corn.” Many  varieties  of  Tylenchus,  and  es- 
pecially P.  devastatrix,  attack  the  stems  and 
roots  of  plants  and  trees  which  they  tend  to 
stunt  and  distort  and  < f ;en  kill  outright.  These  eel 
worms  as  described  by  Miss  Ormerod,  are  minute, 
transparent  w-hite  threadworms,  scarcely  more 
than  |5°i  an  inch  when  full  grown,  their  greatest 
breadth  being  g1-^  of  their  length.  The  subjectnf 
Tylenchus  worms,  which  seem  to  give  much 
trouble  in  Australia,  was  fully  treated  of  in  an 
exhaustive  and  able  report  issued  by  the  Agri- 
cultural Department  ot  New  Scujli  Wales  not 
long  ago. 
