Jan.  1,  1897.] 
Supplement  to  the  “ Tropical  Agriculturist  ” 
503 
alx)ut  an  inch  and  a half  depth  of  a light  brown  jelly, 
ramifying  throughout  which  maybe  noticed  a white 
growth  or  mould.  The  two  principal  precau- 
tions that  must  be  taken  with  the  material  are 
(1)  not  to  let  it  experience  a heat  greater  than 
the  body  temperature  (about  98°  F. );  and  (2) 
not  to  let  it  be  exposed  to  a strong  light. 
Either  of  these  would  destroy  the  vitality  of 
the  bacteria,  but  if  tliey  be  guarded  against,  the 
efficacy  of  the  contents  may  be  prolonged  for  an 
indefinite  lime. 
The  German  name  for  the  material  is  Impfdiin- 
ger  fiir  Leguminosen,  “nitragin”  (inoculating 
manure  for  leguminous  plants.) 
The  method  of  using  the  “nitragin”  in 
practical  agriculture  is  twofold.  It  consists  either 
in  inoculating  the  seed  direct  by  bringing  it 
by  means  of  water,  into  contact  with  the  “ Ni- 
tragiu,”  or 'in  inoculating  with  the  “Nitragin” 
some  of  the  soil  of  the  field  on  which  the 
crop  is  to  be  sown  and  then  spreading  this  soil 
over  the  plot  and  working  it  into  a depth  of 
of  about  three  inches.  The  first  thing  to  be  done 
is  to  render  the  contents  of  the  bottle  liquid  ; 
this  is  eflected  either  by  putting  the  bottle  for 
a short  time  into  lukewarm  water,  or  by  bring- 
ing it  into  a warm  room  until  the  contents  be- 
come liquid,  or  by  other  obvious  means.  Care 
must  be  taken,  as  already  pointed  out,  not  to 
exceed  a temperature  of  98°  F.  and  not  to  ex- 
pose the  bottle  to  strong  light.  The  following 
IS,  practically,  a translation  of  the 
DIRECTIONS  FOR  USE. 
I.  For  inoculating  the  seed  direct. 
For  every  i acre  of  land  to  be  sown  with  the 
crop,  take  H pint  of  water  in  a vessel,  and  pour 
into  it  the  liquid  contents  of  one  bottle.  In 
order  to  completely  empty  the  bottle,  shake  up 
some  of  the  water  with  the  liquid  contents  of 
the  bottle,  so  that  the  whole  gets  well  mixed, 
and  then  pour  it  into  the  vessel  containing  the 
water. 
With  the  water  thus  prepared,  sprinkle  the 
seed  thoroughly,  and  work  the  heap  with  the 
hand  (in  the  case  of  larger  quantities  with  a 
shovel)  so  that  every  seed  is  moistened. 
If  there  be  not  water  sufficient  add  more,  but, 
sneaking  generally,  1^  pint  is  enough  for  small 
clover-like  .seeds. 
Dry  the  seed  by  mixing  it  with  some  dry 
sand  or  fine  earth  taken  from  the  field  that  is 
to  be  sown. 
Avoid  exce.ssive  dryness  or  dustiness,  and  do 
not  expose  to  bright  sunshine. 
Sow  in  the  usual  way. 
II.  For  inoculating  the  .soil. 
Instead  of  inoculating  the  seed  direct,  it  is 
rather  better  to  effect  this  purpose  by  inoculation 
of  the  earth  of  the  field  that  is  to  be  sown. 
To  do  this,  for  every  ^ acre  of  land  that  is  to 
be  sown,  t.ake  56  lb  of  earth  from  the  field,  and 
our  the  contents  of  the  bottle  over  it  as  directed 
efore,  but  using  very  much  more  water.  In 
this  way  the  earth  will  be  inoculated.  Let  the 
earth  dry  in  the  aii-,  or,  if  nece.ssary,  add  more 
dry  earth. 
Then  spread  the  whole  evenly  over  the  surface 
to  be  sown  with  seed,  and  work  it  into  the  soil 
to  a depth  of  about  3 inches. 
Sow  the  seed  as  usual. 
Dr,  Nobbe  is  of  opinion  that  the  inoculation 
of  the  soil  is  to  be  preferred  to  the  treatment  of 
the  seed,  inasmuch  as  it  would  seem  more  certain 
that  the  organisms  come  in  contact  with  the 
joote  during  their  search  for  food. 
The  production  of  “Nitragin”  on  a commer- 
cial scale  being  of  such  recent  date,  there  has 
been  little  time  as  yet,  even  in  Germany,  to  make 
extensive  field  experiments  with  it  under  ordinary 
agricultural  conditions.  Neverthele.ss  experiments 
are  being  made  at  several  experimental  stations 
and  on  private  farms,  and  so  far  as  can  be  judged 
at  an  early  stage,  the  treated  plots  are  reported 
as  showing  some  advantage  over  the  untreated 
ones,  while  the  roots  of  plants  grown  on  the 
former  appeared  to  have  more  nodules  than  the 
roots  of  plants  in  the  latter. 
The  question  now  remains  of  what  practical 
utility  to  the  cultivators  of  the  soil  in  general 
is  the  discovery  likely  to  be  ? Is  it  likely  to 
enter  into  ordinary  agricultural  practice?  And 
will  it  pay  to  carry  out ! 
— ^ 
VETERINARY  NOTES. 
A curious  form  of  disease  about  which  practically 
nothing  is  known  occurs  among  stock  in  Ceylon. 
Among  the  symptoms  are  increased  respiration, 
a darkening  of  the  colour  of  the  coat  eitlier  com- 
pletely or  in  patches,  (while  the  hair  of  the  coat 
at  the  same  time  tends  to  become  long,)  and,  in 
milch  cattle,  loss  of  milk.  On  consulting  Veter- 
inary Captain  Pease  of  the  Indian  Veterinary 
Department,  that  well-known  authority  replied 
that  he  had  never  heard  or  seen  cases  such  as  we 
have  described.  Professor  Wallace  of  Edinburgh, 
who  saw  .some  cases  in  the  Government  Dairy’ 
gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  disorcler  was  due 
to  an  affection  of  the  liver  and  recommended  treat- 
ment with  calomel.  The  natives  have  their  own 
treatment  for  the  disease,  which,  according  to 
them,  would  appear  to  be  clue  to  impurity  of  the 
blood,  and  the  drugs  prescribed  by  them  are 
believed  to  be  effectual. 
Who  knows  but  that  this  may  not  be  a “ new 
disea.se,”  just  as  albuminaria  (known  as  Brioht’s 
disease  in  the  human  subject)  is  now  recog- 
nised by  veterinary  pathologists  as  a di.stinct 
disease  in  cattle.  We  guote  as  follows 
with  reference  to  albuminaria  amon»  stock  i— 
It  is  a difficult  subject  to  treat  at’^all  times 
but  endeavour  shall  be  made  to  explain  it  as 
simply  as  possible,  compatible  with  facts.  Albu- 
men may  arise  in  the  urine  from  various  causes 
—lesions  if  the  nerve  centres,  indigestion,  from 
injuries  or  cold,  and  from  diseases  of  the  kidneys. 
Also,  physiological  albuminuria  may  arise  from 
the  nature  of  the  feeding,  without  any  actual 
disease  being  present,  the  albumen  in  none  of 
these  cases  being  permanent,  But,  in  tlie  form 
under  consideration  we  have  disquamation  or 
ulceration  of  the  lining  membrane  of  the  urini- 
ferous  tubes  or  ducts  of  the  kidney,  thereby  per^ 
mitting  of  the  exudation  of  the  albumen,  one  of 
the  principal  constituents  and  most  nutritious 
substances  contained  in  the  blood  for  the  nourish- 
ment of  the  tissuses.  The  colour  of  the  urine 
is  smoky-brown,  and  it  easily  froths  from  the 
presence  of  albumen.  The  Specific  gravity  islow— 
1-014— by  abstraction  of  urea-,  quantity  of  urine 
much  diminished  owing  to  the  reduced  proportion 
of  water  ; subsequently  the  urine  becomes  pale  and 
opalescent,  and  is  less  apt  to  froth  from  there 
being  much  less  albumen  ; the  specific  gravity 
declines  yet  much  lower  down,  perhaps  to  1-004 
while  the  quantity  of  urine  is  increased,  approach’- 
ing  almost  to  diuresis.  To  a.scertain  whether 
pathological  urine  is  pre.sent  or  not,  two  sampes 
should  be  sent  to  an  organic  analytical  chemist 
for  qualitative  analysis,  as  the  urine  of  domestlitj 
