304 The Pork Trade in the Argentine. RICHELET, JUAN E. Decadencia de la industria de preparados porcinos. Revista de la Asociación rural del Uruguay, Year XLI, No. 11, pp. 806-810. Montevideo, November 1912. In the Argentine Republic about 10 million acres of land are annually sown to maize and their production is upwards of 8 million tons; this and a portion of its great production of wheat, oats, and linseed might be devoted to the raising and fattening of live stock, and altogether the conditions for pig breeding and the pork industry seem very favourable. Nevertheless, the former is carried on to a very limited extent and several attempts made to establish the latter have failed. The writer examines the causes of these failures and suggests remedies, among which he places the better utilization of the offals. Since 1900 the importation into the Argentine of prepared pork has constantly increased, whilst the exportation has diminished, and in 1912 it was almost nil. The figures in the annexed table are taken from the national statistics. The value of the imports of pig products reached £140 331 in 1911, as compared with £104 093 in 1910. WOOL INDUSTRY Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, Vol. X, No. 4, pp. 537-539. London, December 1912. Sheep-raising is an important industry in Cyprus, large numbers of sheep being killed annually for local consumption; the wool produced is exportted chiefly to France and Italy. The exports of wool were 4851 cwt., valued at £11 216, in 1909, and 6596 cwt., valued at £15 203, in 1910. (No further statistics are available). The total number of sheep in the Island in 1910 was about 400 000 (1). The wool is of inferior quality; this is partly due to the breed and partly to the conditions under which the sheep are kept. Attempts have been made by the Agricultural Department to impress on the native breeders the necessity of keeping the sheep well fed, and experiments have been carried out at the Athalassa Experimental Farm for the purpose of demonstrating the advantages of careful rearing. In the annexed chart are enumerated the results of the examination - at the Imperial Institute of London - of the shoulder wool of two fleeces - a yearling ram (No. 1) and a yearling ewe (No. 2) received from the Athalassa Farm. The experts stated that the fleeces represented an excellent class of carpet wool, and valued No. I at 9d. per lb. and No. 2 at 8d. to 82d. per lb. in London (May 1912). 1 water 1.2 3.2 Pure wool fibre 84.4 81.1 0.0024 0.0025 SUGAR INDUSTRY Diameter fibres. . . in. 0.0019-0.0040 0.0016-0.0035 * These figures represent the range of length in the fibres over the whole fleece. 306 The International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis in the Meeting held at New York on September 10, 1912. WIECHMANN, F. G. in The International Sugar Journal, Vol. XV, No. 69, pp. 7-9. Altrincham, England, January 1913. In the meeting held at New York on September 10, 1912 the International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis again expressed its opinion that "the official polarizations of raw sugar products shall be made exclusively at the normal temperature of 20o C., the presence of invert sugar and other impurities precluding the use of formulae and tables which have been elaborated for correcting the polarization of pure sucrose for changes of temperature." (1) In 1909, 301 699 sheep and 277 357 goats. p. 115. London. The Statesman's Yearbook for 1912, (Ed.). The wish was expressed that "the various countries may prescribe a uniform temperature for the density determinations of sugar solutions." “In trade analyses the use of temperature correction tables should be dispensed with, as far as possible." The following resolutions were also adopted: The normal temperature of + 20° C. is to be retained for trade analyses. In density determinations of aqueous sugar solutions, the density obtained at normal temperature shall be referred to the density of water at 4oC. and to vacuo." In density determinations made by weighing, the results must be calculated to 20oC. and to vacuo. To effect this it will be desirable to use tables prepared for this purpose." M. Saillard, the French delegate, agreed to the latter part of the resoution, provided that in France the normal temperature there customary, namely°C., be retained in place of 20°C. 'Wherever white light is used in polarimetric determinations, the same must be filtered through a solution of potassium dichromate of such a concentration that the percentage content of the solution multiplied by the length of the column of the solution in centimetres is equal to nine." 'Inasmuch as recent investigations tend to question the validity of the present 100° point of saccharimeters, and inasmuch as it is desirable that the Commission recognize and fix a transformation factor from absolute degrees to Ventzke degrees, the President is hereby empowered to appoint a committee of three to fully investigate this question and report at the next official meeting." 307 - Bacteria in Grape and Fruit Wines and the Alterations due to them. MÜLLER-THURGAU and OSTERWALDEN. A. Die Bakterien im Wein und Obstwein und die dadurch verursachten Veränderungen. Centralblatt für Bakteriologie, Parasitenkunde und Infektionskrankheiten, Vol. 36, No. 6-14, pp. 129-338. Jena, December 28, 1912. The writers give in Chapter I of their very exhaustive work a short description of the bacteria occurring in wine; after which follows a description of the diseases and alterations of wine which are caused by bacteria. In Chapter II the methods followed by the writers in cultivating pure strains of bacteria are described. As solid culture medium gelatine or agar-agar was used and as culture liquids several kinds of pear juices as well as grape juice. During the last ten years mostly extract of yeast (100 grams of pressed yeast to 1 litre of water) with the addition of about one per thousand of malic or tartaric acid and 2 to 3 per cent. of cane sugar, levulose or dextrose were added. Chapter III contains an accurate description (Morphology, Physiology, Classification) of the pure cultures of bacteria grown by the writers. These all of them belong to the lactic acid bacteria; they are divided WINE-MAKING into four kinds: a) Bacterium mannitopeum (several strains); b) Bacterium gracile (several strains); c) Micrococcus acidovorax; d) Micrococcus variococcus. Bacterium mannitopeum Müller-Thurgau, is found in great numbers in fruit and grape wines containing lactic acid. It forms short rods and shorter or longer septate and non-septate threads. The short rods are rounded at the extremities, 1.5 μ in length and varying in diameter between 0.7 and 1.3, rarely outside these limits. The single rods do not show any spontaneous movements and do not form spores. In juices and wines the bacteria often form large tufts composed of long very much tangled threads. In wines of a certain composition zoogloeæ are often formed; they are spherical bodies in whch the single bacteria are often no longer easily to be distinguished, being firmly attached to each other by means of an intervening substance. These zooglææ may become bladder-like aggregates of bacteria. These bacteria do not liquefy gelatine. Colonies deep in the gelatine are of round, spherical shape, smooth; superficial colonies are roundish, with very ragged margins. Gram positive. Facultatively anaerobic. They cause energetic fermentation of levulose, dextrose and galactose, with production of much lactic, acetic and carbonic acids, as well as mannite from the first-named substance and ethyl alcohol from the other two. They further cause fermentation of saccharose, maltose, raffinose, l-arabinose, xylose, a-methylglucoside and amygdalin, but not of lactose, rhamnose, phloridzin, mannite, dextrin and peptone. They destroy malic acid, but slowly, citric acid in small quantities; fairly energetically acid ammonium malate, tartaric acid and its salts, succinic acid and lactic acid. Optimum temperature between 26 and 34° C. They form strains which differ from each other in the diameters of the bacteria and in the energy of the lactic and mannitic fermentation. Bacterium gracile Müller-Thurgau is found in grape and fruit wines containing lactic acid, as well as in those which have suffered a destruction of their acid content. These bacteria form short rods, and longer or shorter, often strongly bent, septate threads. The rods are 0.75 to I in length and their fairly constant diameter is 0.5 p. No spores and no spontaneous motion. They seldom form tufts and then only small ones, that is small tangles of threads; they also form zooglœæ and bladder-like aggregates. They do not liquefy gelatine. Colonies deep in the gelatine are spherical and smooth. Superficial colonies have entire margins. Gram positive. Facultatively anaerobic. They cause fermentation of levulose, dextrose and galactose, with production of much lactic, acetic and carbonic acids, forming mannite from levulose and ethyl alcohol from the other two bodies. They do not induce fermentation in saccharose, lactose, maltose, raffinose, l-arabinose, xylose, rhamnose, phloridzin, mannite, dextrin or Witte's peptone, but do so in a-methylglucoside and to a certain extent in amygdalin. They decompose energetically malic and citric acids and calcium malate; with less energy neutral potassium malate and ammonium malate. Tartaric acid and its salts are not attacked, nor are succinic and lactic acids. Optimum temperatures between 22 and 260 C. They form strains which differ less in the dimensions of the rods than in the energy of the fermentation they set up. Micrococcus acidovorax n. sp. is fund in wines in which destruction of acids is taking place, also mixed with other causes of infection in diseased wines. It forms single cocci, diplococci and tetrads (merismopedian aggregates). Single cocci 0.5 to 0.7 μ diameter. They form zooglœæ and bladder-like groups in wines of certain compositions. The cocci show no spontaneous movement and form no spores. They do not liquefy gelatine. Colonies deep in gelatine are of spherical shape and smooth. Superficial colonies are rounded and their edges entire. Gram positive. Facultatively anaerobic. They produce only lactic acid and decompose dextrose, levulose, galactose, lactose and maltose, producing much lactic acid without by-products such as acetic and carbonic acids. They do not cause fermentation of saccharose, raffinose, l-arabinose, xylose, rhamnose, a-methylglucoside, amygdalin, phloridzin, mannite, dextrose or Witte's peptone. They decompose malic acid energetically, forming lactic and carbonic acids, and also decompose neutral calcium malate and neutral ammonium malate. They do not cause the fermentation of tartaric acid and its salts nor of citric, succinic, and lactic acids. Optimum temperature: 26.5° C. Micrococcus variococcus n. sp. is found, for instance, in red and white wines in which destruction of the acid content is going on ("siedende Weine "). They form cocci, diplococci and tetrads (merismopedian aggregates). The diameter of the single cocci varies considerably, from 0.6 to 1.5 μ. In wines of certain composition they form zooglœæ. The cocci have no spontaneous movement and do not form spores. They do not liquefy gelatine. Deep colonies in gelatine are spherical and smooth; superficial colonies have entire margins. Gram positive. Facultatively anærobic. They produce only lactic acid, but with less energy than Micrococcus acidovorax; they decompose levulose, dextrose and galactose, with formation of lactic acid and without by-products such as acetic and carbonic acids. They do not cause fermentation of saccharose, lactose, maltose, raffinose, l-arabinose, xylose, rhamnose, phloridzin, mannite, dextrin or Witte's peptone, but do so in the case of a-methylukosid and abundantly in the case of amygdalin, producing with the latter oil of bitter almonds. They cause active fermentation of malic acid, neutral potassium and ammonium malates and acid calcium malate, but not of tartaric acid and its salts, nor of citric, succinic and lactic acids. Optimum temperature: 26.5° C. They form strains which differ in the energy of their fermentative properties. Considering the unsettled state which still prevails in the systematic classification of bacteria, it is difficult to class correctly the above-described species. In Chapter IV the alterations in wine are discussed in the light of the results obtained with cultures of bacteria. ΙΟ |