VOL.7, NO. 4
AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY
855
Rather let the condensing be done by the teacher for certainly there will be a difference of opinion as to the particular topics to be taught. A final question to be discussed is whether or not practical applications of chemistry shall be taught. Some department heads say they wish only the fundamentals taught, while others say they want everything taught that can be readily included. It would seem very desirable to have a survey made of various departments seeking to find just what chemistry they think their students need. Apparently much of our chemistry is taught from the standpoint of what the chemist thinks the student needs, rather than what persons in applied fields think they should have. Certainly a middle ground suitable to most could be found and this, it seems to me, should be our present aim. Bibliography R . A,, "The Teaching of Agricultural Chemistry." Committee Report, 1. GORTNRR, THISJOURNAL. 1 , 1 7 7 4 1 (Oct., 1924). 2. G O R ~ RR ., A,, "The Appeal of Biochemistry in an Educational Program," Ibid., 5, 569-72 (May, 1928). 3. BROWWE,C. A,, "A Practical Course in Agricultural Chemistry for Elementary (Apr., 1925). Students," Ibid., 2, 244. HEADDEN,WM. P., "Broadening Agricultural Chemistry," Ibid., 3, 201-12 (Feh., 1925). H. R., "The Place of Analytical Chemistry in Agriculture," Ibid., 5. KRAY~ILL, 2, 12&7 (Feb., 1925). 6 . Gonrmn, R . A,,"Biochemistry," I. Am. Soc. Agron., 16,607-14 (Sept., 1924).
Waltzing Mice Used to Detect Monoxide Gas. Queer little Japanese waltzing mice have been put to good use by scientists who have found the mice even better than canary birds far detecting deadly carbon monoxide gas in the air, the U. S. Bureau of Mines has just reported. Carbon monoxide is a highly fatal gas that has neither color nor odor, so that it can creep on a man unaware and overcome him almost before he knows what has happened to him. Small animals are aflected more quickly than man by the same concentration of this death gas. Therefore, they have been used t o detect the presence of the gas in the atmosphere of mines and other places where i t is a menace. The difference between the time when the animal is overcome and that when man will be overcome is sufficient to allow a man to return t o fresh air, put on a mask or protect himself in some other way. However, the margin of time between effects in the animals and in men is not very wide and experience with canaries has shown that an occasional specimen may be tolerant enough to fail t o exhibit symptoms before serious effects are incurred in men. Because the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning are increased by physical activity, the waltzing mice, with their almost continuous and violent movements, show the effects of exposure to the gas much more quickly than any other animals and are therefore especially suitable for detecting the presence of the gas. They also recover very quickly from the effects of the gas, Bureau of Mines officialsfound.-Science SerJice
