ALBERT

Beschreibung: The heavy yields of sugar beet tops which remain on the land after the removal of the sugar beet crop may be utilised in two ways. They may either be ploughed into the land as manure, or they may be fed to stock. Where large areas of sugar beet are grown, and where in consequence it may not be possible to secure consumption of the whole of the tops before decomposition of the material sets in, a combination of these two methods of utilisation may be resorted to. In other words, the feeding of the tops may be continued so long as they remain wholesome, after which the remainder may be ploughed into the land.In view of the present importance of the sugar beet crop in English agriculture, and the urgent necessity of making the fullest possible use of all the various by-products arising in connection with this crop both in the field and in the factory, it is of importance that data should be available relating to the value of sugar beet tops both as a feeding stuff and as a manure. The purpose of the present communication is to detail the results of investigations which have been carried out with a view to securing such information.

Beschreibung: The practice of applying nitrogenous fertilisers to cereal crops as a top dressing is one which has become firmly incorporated into normal farm routine.The classic wheat experiment on Broadbalk field shows that to apply all the nitrogenous fertiliser at the time of drilling the seed in autumn leads to a diminution in crop when compared with the yield of a plot in which only a quarter of the nitrogenous fertiliser was applied in autumn.

Beschreibung: The determination of dissolved oxygen by Thresh's method may lead to discordant results because of the loss of iodine, which is carried away by the gas passed through the apparatus during the titration.A modified method is described, which eliminates the above error and obviates the necessity for making separate determinations of the dissolved oxygen of the reagents used.Correction for the nitrites present in the water can be made by making separate determination by the Griess-Ilosway colorimetric method.

Beschreibung: 1. The various classes of insecticides are outlined, and the sense in which the term “contact insecticide” is used is denned as one which is brought into external contact with the insect, either as solid, liquid or vapour.2. An analysis is made of the relationships between chemical constitution and insecticidal action in the vapour phase. There is rough correlation between both the molecular weights and volatilities of organic compounds and toxicity, but it is probable that these relationships are only indirectly involved and that they indicate a connection of a more direct kind with some other property such as adsorption.3. An account is given of the toxicity to insects of certain plant products. The most potent of these are certain tropical leguminous plants used as fish-poisons. A brief account is given of the chemical derivatives found in these plants. One of them, “tubatoxin,” is one of the most potent contact insecticides known.4. A list of the groups of organic chemicals tested for their toxic action on Aphis rumicis and the eggs of Selenia tetralunaria is given. A more detailed account is given for each group of the relationships between chemical constitution and insecticidal action. It is shown that the substitution of certain radicals in the benzene ring profoundly affects toxicity, but that toxic action depends not only upon the radicals but the number substituted and in certain cases upon their relative position.5. 3 : 5-Dinitro-o-cresol is shown to have a most powerful ovicidal effect.6. An examination of the toxicity of the fatty acids is made. It is shown that as the series is ascended toxicity increases up to undecylic acid, after which it declines.

Beschreibung: 1. The toxicity of 3:5-dinitro-o-cresol and its sodium salt to the eggs of several species of moths has been determined under laboratory conditions. Both substances are toxic to eggs of the species tested at concentrations varying from 0·1 to 0·025 per cent.2. With eggs of some insects, hatching is not entirely prevented by the action of low concentrations of dinitro-cresol and sodium dinitrocresylate, but the majority of the larvae which emerge succumb within a few hours.3. The eggs of “red spider” are very resistant to the action of dinitrocresol.4. At equivalent concentrations, dinitro-cresol and sodium dinitro-cresylate have approximately the same toxicity to insect eggs.5. Washing eggs with water after spraying has no appreciable effect on the toxicity of dinitro-cresol, if the liquid is first allowed to dry on the eggs. Sodium dinitro-cresylate is more affected by washing after spraying.6. Field experiments on apples and black currants with spray fluids containing dinitro-cresol at a concentration of 0·25 per cent. and sodium dinitro-cresylate at equivalent concentration showed that both materials were completely effective against Psylla and Aphis eggs and greatly reduced the numbers of caterpillars. There was no evidence of any effect on Capsid eggs.7. Both fluids had a cleansing effect on the bark of the trees, killing algae, lichens, etc.; they caused no injury to the trees themselves. The results demonstrate the practicability of using dinitro-cresol and sodium dinitro-cresylate as winter spray fluids on dormant trees and bushes under field conditions.

Beschreibung: (1) An aerobic coccus has been obtained from cultures of the motile butyric acid bacillus under conditions which exclude the possibility of contamination.(2) Descriptions of the coccus and the bacillus are given.(3) The coccus does not fix nitrogen in soil extract containing dextrose.

Beschreibung: 1. Two basic slags differing widely in solubility and phosphate content have been treated for long periods with boiling ammonium chloride solution.2. The low-grade slag lost 70 per cent. of the total lime and very little phosphoric acid; a residue with nearly 40 per cent. phosphate was obtained from an 18 per cent. slag.3. The high-soluble slag also lost a large percentage of the total lime but large amounts of phosphoric acid were also found in solution. The residue from the 30 per cent. slag after 24 hours' treatment contained nearly 46 per cent. phosphate.4. It is shown that a silico-phosphate is present in the high-soluble slag, but not in the low-grade slag.5. The solubility in citric acid of the phosphates in the various residues has been determined.6. The value of basic slags in supplying exchangeable calcium is discussed.7. The effect of hydrofluoric acid on the slag residues has been investigated.8. Experiments with fluorspar slags are described which confirm the view that the phosphate present is fluorapatite of very low solubility in citric acid.

Beschreibung: Some of the factors affecting the rate of loss of water from a drying system are shortly reviewed. These factors fall into two groups: (1) the drying system itself, and (2) the environmental conditions. The second group may include (a) diffusion of water vapour through the air, (b) bulk air movements due to (i) temperature gradients between different parts of the drying vessel, (ii) temperature lowering of the drying mass itself due to evaporation, (iii) lower density of moist air, (iv) inevitable disturbances introduced by experimental conditions such as weighing or movement of apparatus, (v) the geometry of the system. It is shown that of the external factors the most important are (2 (a)), (2 (b) (i)) and (2 (b) (ii)); (2 (b) (iv)) may produce irregularities in the rate curves of airdry granular materials; (2 (b) (iii)) and (2 (b) (v)) appear to have little or no effect.

Beschreibung: In 1883 Mr George Fry, F.L.S. described a series of observations which he had made upon silage. From these he drew the conclusion that if the conditions of silage making were such that the temperature exceeded 45° C. sweet brown silage resulted, but that if the temperature failed to rise above 40° C. then sour silage with a rather repulsive odour was produced. These results were obtained in the type of silos then commonly in use, which varied in depth generally between 12 and 18 feet, frequently had a considerable surface area and were filled comparatively slowly.

Beschreibung: Experiments have been described which had primarily as their object the investigation of the effect of varying moisture content in the green oat and tare crop on the type of silage produced from such forage. The magnitude of the changes affecting the constituents of the green crop under the different conditions of ensilage have also been detailed.The main conclusions are summarized below:

Beschreibung: It was recently suggested by the writer that the neutral salt test for sourness in soils could be adapted for rapid qualitative purposes by using an alcoholic solution of potassium thiocyanate. This reagent becomes coloured in contact with soils deficient in strong bases, because of the presence of iron among the weak bases which are brought into solution from such soils by neutral salts.

Beschreibung: Few reliable figures (1) exist at the present time which show the relative qualities of the various British breeds of pigs in respect of their ability to put on weight and the relative proportions of meat and offal in the carcases. Weights and carcase percentages of German breeds have been published by the German Agricultural Society (2).

Beschreibung: In support and extension of the conclusions drawn in the earlier papers the following facts and deductions are submitted:1. The only sparingly soluble substance, from a random collection examined, whose suspensions showed the same abnormal flocculation by calcium hydroxide that is shown by clay, were certain phosphates of iron aluminium and calcium. The abnormal flocculation of these phosphates is open to an explanation quite analogous to that already advanced for the flocculation of clay.2. Until the amount of calcium hydroxide added to a suspension of clay or phosphate reaches a certain amount its abnormal flocculating power is not manifested. The amount required to produce the abnormal flocculation is greater for a fat clay than for a lean one. This is in agreement with the view that the abnormal flocculation is caused by a coagulation of emulsoid matter, for obviously such coagulation will not become dominant until a sufficient amount of the precipitant has been added.3. The lime absorbed by a soil can be wholly and completely removed by a dilute acid treatment which cannot very appreciably decompose the unweathered minerals. It is therefore concluded that the absorption of lime by a soil is an absorption by the soil colloids and not by the unweathered minerals.4. The ignition of a soil for a few minutes over a bunsen flame increases the amounts of iron and aluminium dissolved by acid. Evidence is brought to show that this is due to a destruction of the colloids which bind the particles together, and a consequent exposure of a larger surface.5. The effect of a partial ignition on the base absorbing power of soils and subsoils is described and the results are claimed to be in agreement with the view that the particles in the aggregates are bound together by gelatinous colloidal matter.

Beschreibung: It is well known that different flours vary enormously in respect of the size and shape of loaf they yield on baking. The factor which determines the quality of flour in this connection has been termed “strength” and the latter has been denned as “the capacity of flour for making large well-piled loaves”(1).Many views have been held from time to time regarding the explanation of flour strength from the chemical standpoint. The earliest view was that strength was determined by the gluten content of the flour, which by virtue of its tenacity was able to retain in the bread the carbon dioxide produced as a result of the activity of the yeast. Many cases, however, were investigated where flours possessing a high gluten content were not so strong as a flour with a low content of gluten. Furthermore, no accepted regularity has been found to exist between the strength of flours and the water-holding or gas retaining capacity of their glutens.

Beschreibung: The study of lactation has almost always been undertaken from one of two very diverse points of view, the physiological and the commercial. The chief aim of the physiologist has been to determine, either the origin of the various constituents of the milk and the method of their elaboration, or the extent to which internal secretions affect the flow of milk by their initiation, inhibition or stimulation of milk secretion. From the commercial or agricultural point of view, on the other hand, the chief interest has centred round the problem of the production of butter fat, and a very large number of experiments have been conducted to determine by what method of feeding a cow could be caused to give the maximum yield of milk with the highest percentage of fat.

Beschreibung: The following solutions were tested with respect to their fungicidal properties towards the “powdery,” conidial stage of S. Humuli on young hop-leaves in the greenhouse:(1) Disodium arsenate, containing 0·096 per cent. As2O5 proved fungicidal and killed also patches of leaf-cells underlying the mildewpatches, but did not otherwise injure the leaf. A solution containing 0·02 per cent. As2O5 was fungicidal without killing any leaf-cells.(2) Trisodium arsenate containing 0·077 per cent. As2O5 proved fungicidal.(3) Dicalcium arsenate. containing 0·048 per cent. As2O5 proved fungicidal; containing 0·024 per cent. As2O5 the solution was apparently just fungicidal, but with 0·01 per cent. As2O5 the solution was practically non-fungicidal.(4) Tricalcium arsenate containing 0·076 per cent. As2O5 is fungicidal; containing 0·02 per cent. As2O5 it possesses some fungicidal value, but with 0·01 per cent. As2O5 it is practically non-fungicidal.(5) The following constituents of lime-sulphur wash proved nonfungicidal: calcium sulphate, sulphite, thiosulphate, hydroxyhydrosulphide.(6) Calcium polysulphide, at a strength of 0·11 per cent., proved fungicidal.

Beschreibung: The newer knowledge of nutrition shows that cereals and seed products are deficient in calcium, sodium, chlorine, and unknown substances, called fat-soluble A and water-soluble B sometimes referred to as “vitamines” or “accessory food factors.”McCollum(1) in America, has gone the length of proving bj actual experiment that cows and their calves can be raised to perfection on nothing but the complete maize plant, although maize grain is well known as a very incomplete food. In spite of his demonstration, and in spite of the obvious fact that nothing could be more like grass than an entire cereal plant and therefore suited to herbivora, very few practical or theoretical agriculturists recognise that straw is the most likely thing in the world to correct for the deficiencies of grain feeding. The difficulty is to get straw that is eatable. The practical farmer, when he happens to get a good sample, accepts it as a gift of fate and is content to turn it into profit for himself as soon as he can. The object of the enquiry, or rather the series of enquiries of which this forms a part, is to adopt the more scientific mode of procedure and endeavour to find out what differences of feeding value naturally occur in oat straw, and which of the conditions needed for high feeding value could be repeated at will, and what light such investigation threw on the old question of why farmers in some districts can fatten cattle on swedes and straw whilst in other districts it is found impossible. Oat straw is plentiful in this country and is probably well supplied with the so-called food accessories, that is the things that the grains lack; the problem at issue is how to get more of the eatable kind and less of the uneatable kind. Provided that the straw is eaten in fair quantity, the possible diminution of growth power, by partial destruction of vitamines due to keeping straw in the stack, is of no practical importance because of the large amount of the straw.

Beschreibung: It is generally recognised that the mechanical analysis of soils containing large quantities of organic matter presents considerable difficulties and that in the case of peaty soils mechanical analysis can have little significance. Apart from the masking effect of organic matter on soil properties which will naturally vitiate any correlations with mechanical composition, the actual dispersion of humus soils is difficult owing to the cementing action of humified organic matter, whereby soil particles are aggregated together into compound structures which resist ordinary methods of dispersion. Various methods have been suggested for the destruction of organic matter as a preliminary to mechanical analysis. Atterberg recommends the use of alkaline sodium hypobromite solution. In the case of diatomaceous soils, however, oxidation of the organic matter with hot nitric acid (d. 1·14) is recommended. For soils free from calcium carbonate the use of hydrochloric acid (d. 1·12) is suggested.

Beschreibung: 1. A number of varieties of winter wheat, known to vary considerably in degree of winter hardiness, were compared in the hardened condition with reference to the physical constants of the cell sap, and the content of dry matter, nitrogen, sugars and starch.2. No constant relation was found between depression of the freezing point, specific conductivity, or hydrogen-ion concentration of the cell sap and relative frost hardiness.3. Sugars accounted for 34 to 38 per cent, of the total osmotic pressure of the sap.

Beschreibung: This communication deals with the results of two experiments in which the “nitrogen-balance,” or difference between nitrogen-consumption and nitrogen-excretion by the cow, has been studied over prolonged periods, starting with the “dry” cow, not in calf, proceeding through the whole period of pregnancy and well into the period of active lactation.Experiment 1 was performed throughout with the two cows, “dry” and not in calf, receiving a basal ration of hay to which was added increasing amounts of maize meal with a view to securing a progressively increasing consumption of nitrogen. This experiment lasted 196 days, during which period determinations of the nitrogen-balance were made on 90 days.Experiment 2 was carried out similarly with two cows, and covered a period of 722 days, including 546 days on which determinations of the nitrogen-balance were made. Throughout the whole of this period one cow (Cow C) was maintained “dry” and not in calf, as control cow, whilst the other cow (Cow D) after 302 days became pregnant and its record was followed throughout the stages of pregnancy and parturition and for the first 136 days of active lactation.The outstanding features of the results are as follows:(1) With the progressive increase of nitrogen-consumption beyond the fundamental requirements of the dry cow the rate of nitrogen-retention steadily increases to a maximum and then falls. The maximum appears to be attained under the conditions of our experiment with a protein-supply in the neighbourhood of 2·4 kg. crude protein per 1000 kg. live-weight. There are indications that this figure may be independent of the nature of the foods fed along with hay.(2) When the cow is maintained upon a ration which causes an initial nitrogen-retention the rate of retention falls steadily, but a very prolonged period—up to 90–100 days—may be necessary before nitrogenequilibrium is attained.(3) Even after nitrogen-equilibrium is established and a relatively constant nitrogen-consumption is maintained, there may arise from time to time considerable deviations from equilibrium either in the positive or negative direction. It would appear therefore that for reliable work of this character long experimental periods are essential.(4) The very earliest stages of pregnancy are marked by a profound disturbance of nitrogen metabolism, the requirement for maintenance of nitrogen-equilibrium being very sensibly increased. This additional requirement persists at a steadily reduced rate for some 15 to 20 weeks, after which it is very small. Over the whole period of pregnancy the average rate of nitrogen-retention was only about 2·4 gm. per day.(5) During parturition and for a few days subsequently the output of nitrogen is very great and more than can be restored rapidly by food-consumption. With the experimental cow, giving barely three gallons of milk per day at most, some two to three weeks elapsed after calving before nitrogen-equilibrium was restored.(6) It would appear that to maintain nitrogen-equilibrium during lactation, the food must supply from twice to three times the amount of nitrogen secreted in the milk, in addition to that required for the maintenance of equilibrium in the “dry” state. This represents a food-consumption which would be difficult to attain in the case of cows giving large yields of milk, and accounts for the familiar difficulty of maintaining the “condition” of such cows in the earlier stages of lactation.

Beschreibung: 1. Percentages of fat, solids not fat and protein were determined in over 700 samples of mixed milk from 15 herds during 1925–26. In the case of fat content, nine herds produced one or more samples below 3 per cent., one herd recording 25 per cent, of samples below this limit. With regard to solids not fat, twelve herds produced milk containing less than 8·5 per cent, on one or more occasions, the highest percentage of deficient samples recorded being 40.2. Frequency distributions of fat, solids not fat and protein percentages in the samples analysed, are given, together with standard deviations, and mean percentages with probable errors for these three constituents.3. Correlation tables of fat with solids not fat, and protein with solids not fat have been prepared, and graphs illustrating the variations are given.

Beschreibung: (1) The ammonia formed in water-logged soils was present mostly in the soil sediment. The surface water contained only a very small portion of the total amount produced.(2) Added ammonia was in a similar manner retained mostly in the soil itself. It could not be leached out by extraction with water nor volatilised with increase of temperature. There is evidence to show that the ammonia exists in the soil as an exchangeable base.(3) On allowing the soils to dry out the ammonia disappeared rapidly and corresponding amounts of nitrates were formed. Very little ammonia was lost by volatilisation.(4) The production of ammonia took place even in presence of volatile antiseptics. The reaction was shown to be brought about by a deaminase.(5) Studies with a number of proteins and ammo acids showed that only very simple amino compounds (glycine aspartic acid and asparagine) were deaminised. Witte's peptone, which contains amino acids, was also attacked.(6) An active preparation of enzyme was extracted from the soil with an aqueous solution of glycerin saturated with toluene.(7) Significant deaminising action was shown by the enzymes from cultures of the mixed microflora of the soils.(8) By acting on amino bodies that are otherwise resistant to biological action the deaminase probably helps to release readily available plant food. Its action should be of great importance in tropical swamp soils.

Beschreibung: All Cows. It is proposed, in dealing with this question, to follow the same lines as in the previous Part—namely, to describe the effect as found from all the Norfolk records (comparing the results, where possible, with those found in the case of Penrith) and then to treat the various breeds, and high and low yielders separately, in order to bring out any peculiarities that may exist as regards those groups.It has already been seen that, as would be expected, the length of the S.P. very largely influences the length of the lactation, and it would seem probable on the face of it, that as pregnancy progresses the milk flow declines; this latter is dealt with in Section B of this Part, but we are here concerned with the total effect of both of these on the yield of milk in the lactation.

Beschreibung: 1. As a result of soaking in water at body temperature (38° C), foods show variations in swelling ranging from approximately 10 per cent. to 260 per cent.2. The volumes of equal weights of different foods after soaking also vary within wide limits. The percentages of moisture in the soaked foods show corresponding variations, being in some cases as high as those found in roots or green fodder.3. These facts have led the authors to put forward a new conception of “bulk” in assessing the value of a ration.4. Feeding experiments have been carried out to determine how far this factor of bulk is applicable in practice.5. In the case of pigs of 40 to 80 lb. live weight, the bulk occupied by the foods did affect the quantity of food taken.6. With calves, the swelling capacity of the concentrated food did not yield any definite results so far as food consumption was concerned.

Beschreibung: Although the primary object of recording cows' milk yields is to provide a means of comparing one individual with another, it is not satisfactorily achieved when the records have been obtained, since yields are influenced to a large extent by environmental factors which vary from cow to cow. The lactation record is the result of two sets of factors—genetic and environmental—and for purposes of selection and breeding it is important to be able to make accurate allowance for the one, so as to arrive at a good estimate of the other.Leaving aside the variation due to feeding and management (which, whilst undoubtedly large, is minimised for the cows of the same herd, and which it is hardly possible to study statistically in the existing data) the chief factors operating on the lactation yield (i.e. the measurable environmental factors) are the following:(1) Season of the year; the lactation yield is influenced to a certain extent by the month of the year in which the cow calves.(2) Service; i.e. the stage of the lactation at which the cow again becomes pregnant. The interval between calving and the next fertile service is here termed the Service Period (S.P.); thus if a cow calves on June 1st, and becomes pregnant again on July 1st, her S.P. for that lactation is 30 days.

Beschreibung: The theory of the capillary behaviour of moist soil has been further amplified for the ideal case and its relationship to various soil properties considered. Over part of the moisture range which has been dealt with by other authors it is found that there are alternative forms for the water distribution. This appears to explain why some differences of opinion have been expressed regarding some of the main points presented in a previous paper.The theory is considered in relation to capillary rise in soils as well as to the problem of cohesion previously dealt with. It is shown that the moisture distribution attained by capillary rise can be inferred from simple direct measurement of the suction pressure. Various other experimental illustrations of the theoretical conclusions are introduced.

Beschreibung: The investigation which has been dealt with in this communication was essentially a continuation of earlier work carried out in 1925 and was primarily designed with the object of ascertaining whether, under greatly differing conditions in respect of soil, herbage and weather, the striking results obtained in the 1925 investigation concerning the chemical composition, digestibility and nutritive value of pasture herbage, under a system of cutting resembling the conditions of close grazing, still held good.

Beschreibung: During the carrying out of the series of researches which led to the formulation of the well-known expression for calculating the starch equivalent of a feeding stuff, Kellner(1) was led to investigate the value of crude fibre in the fattening ration of oxen. For this purpose he used material which had resulted from the boiling of rye straw with an alkaline solution under pressure, the object of this treatment being to free the cellulose of the straw from incrusting substances. This fibre-rich preparation was added to a basal ration which was slightly in excess of maintenance requirements. The result produced by the addition to the basal ration of the digestible matter derived from the fibre of the treated straw was found by Kellner to be equal to that produced by the addition of an equal weight of pure starch. The conclusion was therefore warranted that the digestion products of cellulose in the ruminant organism are equal, for purposes of fat formation in the body, to those derived from the digestion of starch. This finding is given practical expression in Kellner1s formula for calculating the starch value of a feeding stuff, an equal value being attached to digestible fibre and digestible carbohydrate.It is clear that any theory which is put forward to explain the breakdown of cellulose in the ruminant tract must be compatible with the experimentally demonstrated fact that the products of such digestion of a given weight of digestible fibre are equal in nutritive value to the products derived from the digestion of the same weight of starch.

Beschreibung: The principal factors influencing the yield and quality of milk are (1) stage of the lactation period, (2) breed of the cow, (3) interval between milkings, (4) age of the cow, (5) individuality of the cow, (6) efficiency of the milker, (7) temperature and weather conditions, (8) health of the cow, (9) feeding.

Beschreibung: 1. Under the extremely humid conditions obtaining in N. Wales, with soils showing a high degree of base-unsaturation, phosphoric acid applied to permanent grassland as basic slag is fugitive in its effect.2. From profile analyses it is shown that after six to ten years added phosphoric acid is removed from the surface layers, which revert to their original phosphorus status.3. It is suggested that the phosphorus of soils may be differentiated into that of the naturally occurring stable phosphates and the phosphorus of added dressings which is, under N. Welsh conditions, unstable and removable by percolating waters.

Beschreibung: A lighting (paraffin) oil bought casually, such as is often used in paraffin emulsions for spraying, has been subjected to fractional distillation, and shown to be unsuitable as a spraying oil.Approximate solubilities at room temperature of various “oils” in solvents such as soap solutions with and without the addition of phenols, hydrogenated phenols and pyridine, have been determined. Spray fluids containing paraffin oil, benzene, and aniline in solution are economically possible, but coal tar fractions such as anthracene and creosote oils, will, owing to lack of solubility, have to be applied to plants as emulsions. Cresylic acid is the best aid to solution of paraffin oil, but is probably more injurious to foliage than the dearer, hydrogenated phenol, hexalin.Experiments have been made on the influence of temperature when using soap (sodium oleate) and gelatine as emulsifiers; rise in temperature is found to facilitate the formation of emulsions in soap solutions, but to have a much more complex effect when gelatine is the emulsifier. A possible explanation of these facts is given.

Beschreibung: An attempt has been made to ascertain the best interval between calvings, so that the cow's average weekly yield over a long period may be at a maximum. It was only possible to consider the case of the “average cow,” but it is claimed that the general principle has been established, that cows should calve at intervals of not less than a year, and not more than thirteen months; this optimum will probably be subject to a slight variation in particular cases. This is approximately the state of affairs in practice—though Norfolk farmers appear to err on the side of serving too early in the lactation, rather than too late.

Beschreibung: 1. The Valmari-Devarda method of estimating nitrates (i.e. distillation with magnesium oxide and Devarda's alloy) is unsatisfactory in presence of organic matter. Attempts to make it quantitative under these conditions by modifications of alkali and temperature proved unsuccessful.2. Two new methods for the estimation of nitrate in plant juices are described. The first depends on the use of Devarda's alloy in cold weakly alkaline solutions, the second on the reducing power of titanous hydroxide, under conditions suitable for use with plant products.

Beschreibung: 1. 670 samples of the mixed milk from 15 herds were analysed, and the average percentages of total ash, soluble ash, insoluble ash, lime and phosphoric acid are given.2. Tables showing frequency distributions are also given, with the standard deviation, mean and probable error of mean for each constituent determined.3. Various correlations of these constituents with solids not fat and protein have been prepared, and these correlations are illustrated by graphs.It is observed that the total ash falls with the solids not fat until low values of solids not fat are reached, when the ash content appears to rise. This variation is confirmed by a curve illustrating the variation in ash content of samples of individual cow’s milk. Soluble ash rises as the solids not fat falls, but the insoluble ash shows a reverse variation. Lime and phosphoric acid both fall with the solids not fat.

Beschreibung: 1. Sudan soils are very low in organic matter, the total organic carbon being usually less than 1 per cent. In the Gezira, the humus carbon is about 40 per cent, of that of the total.2. Humus preparations purified as far as possible could not be obtained ash-free. Specimens of humus from widely different sources contain nearly the same proportion of carbon.3. Humus solutions (in very dilute alkali) keep fairly well in the dark. They also keep in bright sunlight if air is excluded. The use of standard solutions for colorimetric purposes is justified if not kept too long.4. Field studies show that the humus content of good soil is greater than that of poor, and that there is a marked inverse connection between salt and humus content.5. The above conclusion does not apply to the depth distribution of these constituents. In the Gezira, the maximum humus content is found at the fourth foot and the maximum salt content is found at about the same depth.6. The total nitrogen content of the soils studied is low, usually about 0·03 per cent. About one-fifth of this is humus nitrogen, and the carbon-nitrogen ratio is about twelve to one.

Beschreibung: During recent years a growing interest has been manifested by feeders of stock in the form of cooked maize known as flaked maize, which is produced on the industrial scale by the steaming and rolling of maize grain. Following the publication of the results of an investigation into the comparative values of dry, soaked, cooked and flaked maize for pig-feeding, in which investigation the high digestibility and feeding, value of flaked maize were amply demonstrated, frequent enquiries have been received as to whether it is justifiable to assume an equal feeding value for the several brands of flaked maize which are put on the market at the present time.

Beschreibung: In a previous paper (Davies, 1926) the author studied the differences in the compositions of protoplasmic proteins of plants within a Natural Order (Leguminosae). The Natural Order Cruciferae afforded a means of developing the study in the direction not only of ascertaining differences, if any, of protoplasmic protein of plants within a genus, but also of differences possible within a species. Thus proteins were studied from the following varieties of the cabbage species (Brassica oleracea L.): Cabbage (B. oleracea var. capitata), Marrow stem kale (B. oleracea var.) from the stems and leaves separately, Kohl rabi (B. oleracea var. caulorapa). Also, the proteins from the leaves and roots respectively of white turnips (B. napo-brassica) were isolated and studied. In order to compare the protoplasmic proteins with those of seed of a plant of the same species, a globulin from rapeseed (seed of Brassica Napus L.) was prepared and analysed.

Beschreibung: 1. The moisture equivalent of pure clay preparations varies with (a) the chemical composition, (b) the method of separation if centrifuged, (c) the replaceable bases.2. The imbibitional water content also shows a close connection with the above variables.3. Good additive relationships can only be obtained from series of soils of the same nature and in some cases, if taken at the same depth. This is, at any rate in part, due to differences existing in composition and properties between clay separated from soils and subsoils.4. Pure silt fractions from different soils showed marked differences in their chemical composition and moisture equivalent.

Beschreibung: G. W. Robinson and J. O. Jones (1) have shown that humified can be distinguished from non-humified organic matter by the use of 6 per cent, hydrogen peroxide. Humified organic matter is apparently oxidizedor rendered soluble by this reagent, whilst structural organic matter is unattacked. It seems reasonable to suppose that a similar distinction might be made in the case of farmyard manure between the amorphous decomposed material and the unaltered fibre of the faeces and litter. In other words, the degree of decomposition of farmyard manure might be determined by a method similar to that suggested for the degree of humification of soil organic matter. It is recognised that farmyard manure differs somewhat from soil organic matter in that the former includes the naturally soluble constituents of the litter, faeces and urine, which are either oxidized completely or rendered soluble in the peroxide treatment. However, they may be regarded as analogous in that both have undergone putrefactive decomposition. In the present paper, humification is used as a convenient term for the processes whereby organic matter is changed to structureless colloidal material and not as implying their exact correspondence with humification in the soil.

Beschreibung: The plants worked on in this Natural Order were the Carrot (Daucus carota L.) and the Parsnip (Peucedanum sativum Benth.). Both these plants store up reserve food in their thickened root and hypoeotyl, the disposition of the tissues being similar in both “roots.” For the extractions of their proteins, members of “races ” of these plants containing the minimum amount of core and fleshiest annuli of bast were taken, healthy, uniformly well-grown specimens being selected.

Beschreibung: (1) The formation of laterite and lateritic soils in Sierra Leone has been studied and the mode of formation and the composition of these soils is described.(2) It is suggested that since the clay fraction is regarded as the most important fraction in determining the reactions of a soil the classification of laterite and lateritic soils should be based on an examination of the clay fraction. It is further suggested that where the silica/alumina ratio in the clay fraction falls below 2·0 the soil should be described as “lateritic,” and where this ratio falls below 1·33 the soil should be described as laterite.

Beschreibung: The results of the investigation may be summarised as follows:(1) In Egypt, during the periods of germination and increase in height of the cotton plant, the soil temperatures are rising and the amplitude of the temperature wave is at its maximum.(2) In Egypt, the maximum soil temperatures decline while the minimum soil temperatures remain constant, thus resulting in a gradual decrease in the amplitude of the daily temperature wave during the branching and flowering periods.(3) In Egypt, throughout the soil zone occupied by the roots of the plant, the temperature is the same, the amplitude of the daily temperature wave small, and the temperature is constant during the boll development and maturation periods.(4) The main effect of irrigation on soil temperatures is to reduce the amplitude of the daily temperature wave, no sudden change of temperature in the root zone taking place.(5) From a consideration of the range of air temperature in other cotton producing countries, it seems probable that the characteristics of the soil temperatures during the boll development and maturation periods are the same for all countries.

Beschreibung: Rothamsted and Indian soils were water-logged in the absence of freshly decomposing organic matter.Nitrogen changes: Water-logging resulted in:(1) A distinct increase in the free and saline ammonia content.(2) A significant though only slight diminution in the nitric nitrogen.(3) No marked loss of ammonia by volatilisation or otherwise in the gaseous form: nor considerable variation in the nitrites: nor any observable diminution in the total nitrogen.Reaction: Water-logging resulted in an increase in alkalinity; the increase in pH value was closely correlated with the corresponding increase in ammonia.Gaseous relations: Water-logging resulted in:(1) No release of any soluble reducing matter capable of absorbing dissolved oxygen.(2) No appreciable carbon dioxide production.(3) An absorption of dissolved oxygen from the surface water. An equation has been worked out expressing the concentration gradient of dissolved oxygen with depth.Bacterial numbers:From bacterial counts on water-logged soils it was found that:(1) There was significant though slight decrease in bacterial numbers on Thornton's Agar.(2) Very few colonies were obtained by plating aerobically (and fewer still anaerobically) on Giltay's Agar. None of the organisms appearing on the plates brought about any nitrate reduction in soils.(3) The total counts on gelatine plates also showed some decrease. The numbers of gelatine-liquefiers on the other hand did not vary. There was no evidence to suggest that the increased production of ammonia was due to the activity of the gelatine-liquefiers.Agency responsible for ammonia formation:The results indicate that the formation of ammonia in water-logged soils is not due to biological action. It is suggested that the action is due to an enzyme.

Beschreibung: During recent years a large number of samples of milk having a peculiar flavour have been sent to this Institute by farmers, retailers, and wholesalers of milk.The flavour is marked and has almost invariably been described as “oily.” In many instances it has been referred to as the “castor oil flavour.”Although, as would be expected, the opinions of individuals on the flavour of such samples were not unanimous the majority agreed that “oily” was an appropriate name and since this is the name by which this taint is known to the trade it is proposed to retain it.

Beschreibung: In a former communication (1) a study has been made of the influence of the stage of lactation on the yield and quality of the milk, and in the following paper a similar investigation has been made of the influence of the age of the cow on the same factors.Mackintosh (2) finds a gradual increase in yield up to the 4th or 5th lactation period, and a decrease after the 7th or 8th; thus a heifer calving at 2¾ to 3 years gives 60–70 per cent. of the amount it will produce as a mature cow; after the second calf it gives 80 per cent. and after the third 90 per cent. Tocher's results (3) show an increase from 85 per cent, of the maximum yield at 3 years to a maximum at 7½ years, and a subsequent fall to 90 per cent. at 12 years of age.

Beschreibung: Of recent years a disease of root-crops known to farmers in North Wales is one in which the heart or core of the root is converted into a soft putrid mass but which leaves the rind and mature foliage intact. The disease is prone to appear on land treated with lime as a preventive against the roots being attacked by Plasmodiophora brassicae or when the land has received a heavy dressing of nitrogenous fertilizers. It is common knowledge that nitrogenous manures have a tendency to force the crop and so produce watery, sappy roots which easily fall prey to disease. Recently it was brought to the writer's notice by one of the County Organizers for Agriculture in Wales that some of the farmers in his area were strongly disinclined to lime the land for root-crops because this treatment was favourable to the appearance of “soft-rot.” There is probably some modicum of truth in this contention, for as will be seen below, the writer in the investigation of the present disease found that the organism isolated refused to grow on any media which were not neutral or alkaline. The writer observed and investigated this disease on a crop of white turnips grown on the farm of the University College of North Wales and the land here had received a dressing of nitrate of soda. A casual glance at the crop did not show anything unusual, in fact judging from the amount of green foliage the crop looked very healthy. Closer examination however showed that the very young leaves at the centre of the crown had been destroyed thus forming a tiny wound into which one could push a probe without obstruction to the depth of some three or four inches. The fully expanded leaves very effectively concealed the wound and the disease seemed evidently confined to the internal tissues leaving the foliage and rind quite firm even up to time of harvesting the crop. Indeed the extent of damage was only fully revealed at the time of lifting when the harvester's knife lopped off the foliage only to discover that the roots were bad.

Beschreibung: The assumption that plants feed in the soil just as they feed in water culture solution is unjustified and contrary to the facts. In modification of the usual hypothesis two possibilities are discussed.1. The absorption of colloids by the plant.2. The union of the root hair with soil and other mineral particles (so that the plant and the soil form one system) and the dissolution of the particle by the organic matter of the root hair so attached.

Beschreibung: (1) The expression of mechanical composition by means of continuous curves is discussed. It is suggested that a convenient representation will be obtained by showing summation percentage as a function of the logarithm of settling velocity.(2) The effect of a gel coating on the settling velocity of a particle is examined and it is shown that a reduction in velocity takes place which is a simple function of the thickness of the gel coating.(3) A method is outlined by which the mechanical composition of a soil or clay is derived from determinations of the concentration of a settling suspension for different values of depth/time.(4) A shortened method for mechanical analysis is described which gives results in good agreement with results obtained by the present standard method.(5) The effect of various modifications in conditions of working is discussed.(6) The nature of the concentration gradients in a settling column of a suspension is examined. It is shown that below the first few centimetres the change in concentration with depth is very gradual.

Beschreibung: Although many schemes have been proposed for a classification of soils, not any single one seems to have found general acceptance. It is, however, generally agreed that with any method, a final subdivision based on the texture of the soil is highly desirable, even though it only be the sands, loams, and clays of common parlance. Granted then that a classification based on mechanical analyses is called for—though not necessarily as the primary division into groups—it is here proposed to examine some of the various methods so far put forward for dealing with the results of mechanical analyses. Tables of analytical results in themselves are unwieldy and make decidedly uninteresting reading. The comparison of a large number of soils is a slow and tedious process, if it is accomplished only by a study of the figures.

Beschreibung: The Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act 1906, Section 10, defines the expressions “soluble” and “insoluble” to mean that the fertilising constituent is soluble or insoluble in water, or, if specified in the invoice, to mean that the fertilising constituent is soluble to the extent guaranteed in a solution of citric acid, or other solvent, of the prescribed strength. In particular the section defines the percentage of soluble phosphate and the percentage of insoluble phosphate to mean respectively the percentage of tribasic phosphate of lime equivalent which, has been, or that which has not been, rendered soluble. “Citric solubility” under the Act is further and more definitely defined in the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs General Regulations 1906 as follows:“When, in an invoice relating to basic slag or basic superphosphate, it is specified that a certain percentage of the phosphate contained in the basic slag or superphosphate is soluble in citric acid, this shall be taken to mean that it is capable of being dissolved to the extent of such percentage when 5 grams of the fertiliser and 500 cubic centimetres of water, containing 10 grams of citric acid, are continuously agitated in a flask or bottle of about 1 litre capacity for the period of half an hour at the ordinary temperature.”

Beschreibung: In a recent communication, the results of an investigation into the digestibility of oat and tare silage were recorded. The desirability, however, of extending the scope of this initial work was recognised, in view of attempts which are being made to re-establish on a large scale the practice of ensilage in this country.

Beschreibung: Animal bodies are composed of fat and non-fatty matter. The relative proportions of these two ingredients vary within wide limits but can be controlled by food. The non-fatty matter consists of water, protein and ash. The percentage of water varies with the age of the animal in a definite manner. This has been determined with tolerable certainty for cattle. The available evidence indicates that the same formula is applicable to pigs and, with slight modification, also to sheep, but these inferences require confirmation. The ratio of protein to ash is the same in sheep as in cattle but in pigs it is higher. In any case it does not alter with the age of the animal but it may be influenced to a certain extent by the food. Individual variation is wider in pigs than in ruminants. The average composition of the whole body at any stage can be calculated when the live weight and percentage of fat in it are known.

Beschreibung: In dealing with the Inheritance of Glume-Length [Engledow(1)] there were encountered certain problems relating to metrical characters. As it appeared that these problems must attach to all genetic work upon a metrical basis, they were made the subject of a separate investigation. A simple account of some of the difficulties experienced in connection with Glume-Length Inheritance will serve to formulate the problems.

Beschreibung: In this paper an examination is made of the processes operative and the limits of accuracy of the electrical method of determining soil moisture.The resistance over a small plot is found to vary under similar conditions and it is concluded that these differences are most probably due to actual differences in moisture or other factors.The effect of the distance apart of the electrodes is investigated and a probability of a minimum resistance between two electrodes being observed under certain conditions is indicated.

Beschreibung: The results of a preliminary investigation on this subject, in which single plots were used, which were published in 1921, tended to show that the following inferences, in respect to the relation of size and type of tuber-set to crop, might be drawn.1. The size of the crop varied directly with the weight of the set up to a certain point, viz. 2 ozs., the crop then sinking slightly to a more or less constant level, whilst the weight of the set increased.

Beschreibung: One of the greatest problems of Russia's present economic policy is the restoration and development of farming, and in particular, cattlefarming. The war and revolution have, together with other things, destroyed enormous numbers of cattle, horses, pigs, etc., and thoroughly undermined the meat industry, as well as the sources of supply of working animals. A decrease of 50% below the former numbers of horses is the common state of things. The preservation of cattle-farms and studs is seldom met with, and the number of stock-producing animals is at least ten times less than formerly. The terrible drought threatens to bring into this sphere of national wealth even greater destruction. At the same time there can be no doubt that without the restoration and maintenance on a definite level of stud and cattle-farming, Russia cannot return to full economic activity. The present-day state of things demands that every effort be made, every possibility found and utilised, for increasing the number of domestic animals and for improving the methods of breeding and the breeds themselves.

Beschreibung: Male sterility in potatoes, that is the absence of pollen from the anthers, has been shown by one of us (Salaman(1)) to behave as a recessive to male fertility. The present paper is an account of some farther experiments in the genetics of this character, particularly of crosses between two varieties in which the reciprocals give different results.Both quantity and quality of pollen were estimated by methods similar to those used by Salaman(1) Four empirical grades of quantity were employed, viz. “abundant,” “midium,” “small” and “very few grains.” The quality of the pollen was determined by mounting a sample in water and examining microscopically. Under this treatment living and presumably healthy grains swell up, appear spherical and translucent, whilst the pores become prominent. Such grains are termed “good.” Bad grains are generally smaller, irregular in outline, and often appear quite empty.

Beschreibung: The present paper may, at first sight, appear to contain much that is irrelevant to the subject as indicated in the title. But, whilst the primary object throughout was to trace the inheritance of susceptibility and resistance to rust attack, experience shows that a study of the environmental conditions is also essential for a correct understanding of this problem.

Beschreibung: It has long been generally accepted that an animal requires more food in cold weather than in hob weather, that, in fact and within certain limits, an animal's food requirement increases as the temperature falls. The number of precise measurements however of the effect of change of temperature on food requirement is very small, and it was with the object of extending the knowledge of this important subject that the following investigation was undertaken.

Beschreibung: It has been known for a number of years that red clover and certain other cultivated leguminous plants, besides many other non-leguminous ones, are subject to attack from the eelworm, Tylenchus dipsaci.Kühn (1881) gave an account of the disease produced in clover and lucerne. Later on Ritzema-Bos (1892) showed that the worm attacking clover was morphologically indistinguishable from that attacking rye, oats, hyacinth, carnation and several other cultivated plants and certain weeds. In England Miss Ormerod (1886–1900) dealt with the subject in many of her annual reports and gave a good account of the symptoms produced by Tylenchus dipsaci, pointing out in 1899 the differences between these symptoms and those produced by the fungus Sclerotinia trifoliorum.

Beschreibung: The secretion of milk by the mammary glands normally follows a period of pregnancy, but numerous cases have been cited in the literature of secretion which takes place in animals that have never borne young. Non-pregnant bitches frequently secrete milk several weeks after oestrus (1), and a secretion, apparently similar to milk, takes place after pseudo-pregnancy in rabbits (2). No quantitative analyses have been made of these secretions to show whether they possess the characteristics of true milk or colostrum.

Beschreibung: 1. Records are offered of year old cattle reared to adult weight on rations of varying content in respect to calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium and chlorine. Minimal requirements for growth are higher in the case of phosphorus than in the case of calcium, and a ratio of P2O5 to CaO so high as three to one is not necessarily disadvantageous. Sodium requirements for growth are very low, 2 gm. Na2O being more than sufficient. Chlorine requirements are below 5 gm. per day. A relatively high ratio of potassium to sodium is not productive of specific disease. There is no good reason to suppose that excess of basic over acidic constituents is necessary in a dietary, and cattle can grow normally to full adult weight when the usual alkaline reaction of the urine is shifted to the acid side.2. Explanation of certain observed abnormalities in calving is left open, except in the case of phosphorus deficiency, in which definitely abnormal calves may be born.3. “Aphosphorosis,” or clinically recognisable phosphorus deficiency disease, is experimentally produced, and shown to be identical with the naturally occurring South African disease Styfsiekte.4. The chemical composition of the milk of animals suffering from aphosphorosis meed not mecessarily be abnormal, but the “inorganic” fraction of the blood may drop to a quarter of the normal value even before the disease can be diagnosed clinically. Other phosphorus compounds of the blood remain normally high. Blood calcium remains practically normal.5. Vitamine deficiency of the diets had no adverse effect. Exogenous requirements of cattle for vitamines A, B, and C are so low that they are covered by a few pounds of poor quality roughage, and therefore do not enter into consideration under any natural system of cattle rearing.

Beschreibung: Workers on Virus Diseases of the Potato labour under a disadvantage inasmuch as they are frequently confronted with the difficulty of obtaining positive results of infection in one and the same season. Moreover, tubers resulting from a plant which has been artificially infected in one season, retain the secret of the success or otherwise of the operation until adult plants have been grown from them in the succeeding year. Any method which will sensibly curtail this long waiting period is welcome. As long ago as 1788, Joseph Webb, writing on “Curl” in potatoes, recommended that a sample of the seed-tubers intended for planting in the following season should be planted in a hot-bed before Christmas, and that if 2 per cent, or more of the plants exhibited Curl, the stock should be destroyed.

Beschreibung: An account is given of an investigation of the alga-flora of four English soils by means of dilution cultures of freshly gathered samples of soil from the top, second, fourth, sixth and twelfth inch depths and from the top 6 in. mixed. A counting method is described applicable to the green algae and diatoms, by means of which it is shown that these algae are distributed throughout the top 12 in. of soil, though at the sixth and twelfth inch depths they are considerably less numerous than nearer the surface. At the fourth inch depth the numbers of individuals are not significantly smaller than on the surface and may be even greater.The unmanured plot of Broadbalk wheat field was found to contain the same main species as the adjacent farmyard manure plot but was poorer in numbers of individuate. Thirty-five species are described from each plot; they seem to be divisible into two groups, the true soil forms and casual species. Of the true soil forms some grow equally well on the surface and in the lower layers, whereas others are more numerous on the surface than within the soil. The same main types were also obtained from Barnfield and from a cottage garden, but the blue-green species were less conspicuous in both of these soils.Experimental evidence is given to show that many of the algae of the soil exist in a vegetative condition rather than a resting condition. Biological notes are made on some of the more important or interesting soil species.

Beschreibung: Dried spent hops possess a high absorptive capacity, and attention is drawn to its use as a “filler” to absorb such by-products as molasses and treacle.The material possesses a high crude protein value and its ether extract is very high for a fibrous food, while the amount of crude fibre is the same as in good meadow hay. There is a high percentage of mineral matter present.The digestibility of the material has been determined by feeding with hay chaff and linseed cake meal to three sheep. The spent hops were not readily eaten and could only be included in a ration in an amount equal to one-seventh of the dry weight of the total ration.Its digestibility is low, a fifth of the crude protein and the nitrogenfree extractives, one-half of the ether extract, one-twentieth of the crude fibre and one-fifth of the total organic matter only being digestible. The production starch equivalent was 24.5.

Beschreibung: Barrettia, the most abnormal of the Rudistæ, and among the strangest of all the mollusca, was first found in Jamaica by Lucas Barrett, F.G.S., in the year 1861. The specimens were ably described by S. P. Woodward, F.G.S., in 1862. The original specimens, now in the British Museum of Natural History, consist of polished transverse and longitudinal sections of the upper part of the shell, the latter showing the junction of the upper and lower valves, and a cross section of the young shell near the apex of the lower valve. They were called Barrettia monilifera in honour of the discoverer. The locality where they were found was on the banks of the Back River, a tributary of the Rio Grande, about 15 miles from the coast in Portland Parish in the north-east of the island. The rock is described as a hard, grey limestone which occurs in bands of a few inches to a yard in thickness, subordinate to many hundreds of feet of shale which graduate up into other grey shales of the Eocene, followed by white limestones of Miocene age.

Beschreibung: The object of this paper is to deal more fully with the occurrence of Daviesiella llangollensis (Dav.) in the Carboniferous Limestone of Derbyshire, and further to make some observations on the sequence in the Midland area. In a later paper I hope to deal with the horizon of the “Brachiopod Beds”.

Beschreibung: The age of the Hirnant Beds has for a long time been a matter of uncertainty, occurring as they do at the junction of the Ordovician with the Silurian. They were originally included by Sedgwick in his “Upper Bala”, and in the Memoir of the Geological Survey on North Wales they are grouped with the Bala, and therefore in a modern classification would be relegated to the Ordovician. In 1879, however, Ruddy stated that the grits representing the gritty facies of these beds in the northern part of the area were the same as those coloured Lower Llandovery on the Geological Survey map, and he then held this view of their age, though later, in 1885, the placed them at the top of the “Caradoc or Bala Series”. Hughes also regarded the Hirnant Beds as representing the base of the Silurian, though he regarded the Ashgill Shales of Fairy Gill and elsewhere as Ordovician. Marr has also always regarded the Ashgill Shales of Fairy Gill as “Upper Bala”, and has included them in his Ashgillian division at the top of the Ordovician. It is perhaps significant that Salter in his Catalogue includes the fossils from both sets of beds in the “Upper Bala”, but divides this into two: (a) The Hirnant Limestone and Llanfyllin Beds. (b) The Llandovery (Lower Llandovery of the Survey).

Beschreibung: The deposits which are the subject of this paper have already attracted some attention, because of their connexion with the contents of a small, though highly fossiliferous bone-cave at a placecalled Holly Lane (Figs. 1, 2), discovered by Mr. G. E. Male, of Clevedon, towards the close of the year 1905. Mr. Male worked at it for many weeks, and with his brother, Dr. H. C. Male, of Croydon. collected hundreds of bones, though unfortunately considerable numbers had been already thrown away. In the following year Professor Sidney Reynolds also began to collect, and obtained about 500 more. Probably not less than 2,000 have been preserved. They are now in the museums at Jermyn Street (London), Bristol, and Taunton, and in Dr. Male's collection. The vertebrates were named by Mr. E. T. Newton, Professor Reynolds, and Mr. Martin Hinton (with notes by Mr. S. G. Shattoek, of the Royal College of Surgeons, and by Professor Sir W. Boyd Dawkins), and the gasteropods by Mr. E. T. Newton, the shells having lately been re-examined and the list revised by Mr. A. S. Kennard.

Beschreibung: Among the Brachiopoda described in my recent memoir on the Kuckers stage of north-east Estonia, there was an undetermined member of the Strophomenacea, of which the interior of the dorsal valve was unknown. I have since found a dorsal valve with its exterior (concave) outwards, embedded in kuckersite. By filling the concavity with plaster of Paris the shell could be easily removed from the kuckersite. A complete description can now, therefore, be given. Since my return to Estonia I have found additional examples of the same species and of another species of the same genus amoug the collections of the Tartu (Dorpat) Museum, which were removed into Russia during the war, and have now been returned.

Beschreibung: Summary1. The direction of the ridge is roughly parallel to the line of the moraine in Holderness as sketched by Carvill Lewis. 2. The material of the gravels is ice-collected, but is well waterworn though not rounded. The bulk of the pebbles are of northeastern England and Yorkshire origin, and a small proportion of Scandinavian rocks is present. 3. The stratification is horizontal and current bedding is frequent. 4. There is no seasonal banding nor any alternations of broad and narrow parts along the length of the ridge.

Beschreibung: The graptolite here described was discovered first in the St. Tudwal's peninsula by Mr. T. C. Nicholas in 1912 in the Llanengan Mudstones, but it was not then regarded as distinct from Azygog. lapworthi, though it seemed to possess certain features not recognizable in the Lake District specimens, the only area from which that species had been previously recorded. The discoveryof numerous other specimens by Dr. Matley in the Lleyn peninsula and by Dr. Greenly in the Bangor area has served to show that the characters wherein this species differed from Azygog. lapworthi are permanent and of specific value, and since, moreover, it occurs at a distinctly higher horizon than Azygog. lapworthi, being characteristic of about the middle of the zone of Didymog. extensus, a description of it seems advisable. In general it has been noted that it is in many respects intermediate in character between Azygog. lapworthi on the one hand and Azygog. suecicus on the other, and it is perhaps significant that it occurs upon an horizon between the two.

Beschreibung: Definition.—Shell large, elliptical, subquadrate; valves moderately convex; inferior margin very slightly curved, almost straight; posterior end well rounded above, truncated below and straight, meeting inferior margin at rather more than a rightangle; cardinal margin very slightly arched, nearly straight, but passing gradually into posterior margin; anterior end rounded. Beak large, rounded, prominent, subcentral, elevated above hingeline, incurved, not directed forwards. Umbonal ridge nanow, straight, running obliquely backwards to posterior lower angle of valve and causing a slight angulation of the surface. Shell ornamented with regular equidistant sharp concentric lamellose striæ about 30–40 in number, rather suddenly bent at an obtuse angle on crossing the umbonal ridge.