302
ABSTRACTS
solids-not-fat than that of the control group. There
was a decrease in the ash content also which, however,
followed later. [T.A.]
Toxaemie jaundice in sheep. Australian Agricul-
tural Newsletter, Release No. AGN/104, October,
1945, Canberra
IT is expected that results of observations and
experiments begun during the past 12 months will
point the way to satisfactory methods of control of
toxaemic jaundice in sheep.
The investigation is being conducted by the
Toxaemic Jaundice Committee, representing the
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the
Departments of Agriculture of Victoria and New
South Wales, and the Melbourne University Veteri-
nary Research Institute. It is financed jointly by
the Australia Wool Board and the Australian Meat
Board.
Results at the experimental farm suggest that
proteins of high biological value, such as casein,
have a protective action against the damage to the
liver associated with toxaemic jaundice. It is also
suggested that the low intake of protein during late
summer and autum contributes to the liver damage,
associated with storage of high amounts of copper
to be found in the area in which the disease occurs.
Grazing on heliotrope (Heliotropium europaeum)
increased the death rate in the flock by almost
300 per cent, and deaths with signs of jaundice
21 fold. Strain due to shortage of food contri-
buted to the deaths in the flock from all causes.
It would appear that heliotrope causes such adverse
effects because it favours a higher intake of copper
by the sheep than a grass pasture. Surveys of soil
and pasture are being determined. Results, it is
expected, will suggest possible means of preventing
intake of copper by the sheep, or of preventing excess
storage of copper in the liver.
There is evidence to suggest that the assimilation
and storage of copper by sheep is regulated by the
mineral in the soil and in the plant. Molybdenum
is one mineral element which can reduce copper
storage in the grazing animal. It occurs in widely
varying concentrations in plants. When present in
high concentration in the plant it may cause copper
deficiency in the sheep although the copper con-
centration in the plant remains normal. It seems
possible that, if molybdenum is in very low concen-
tration in the plant, a very high storage of copper
may be built up by the grazing sheep.
THE MAYNARD GANGA RAM PRIZE.
APPLICATIONS are invited for the award of the
Maynard Ganga Ram Prize of Rs. 3,000 for a
discovery or an invention or a new practical
method which will tend to increase argicultural
production in the Punjab on a paying basis. The
prize is open to all, irrespective of caste, creed or
nationality and Government servants are also
eligible for it. Essays and theses are not accepted.
The prize will be awarded for something practi-
cally achieved as a result of work done after the
prize was founded in 1925. Competitors in their
applications must give a clear account of the his-
tory of their invention or discovery and must
produce clear evidence that it is the result of
their own work. In the case of an improved crop
details of parentage, evolution and history and a
botanical description are necessary.
The Managing Committee reserves to itself the
the right of withholding or postponing the prize i f
no satisfactory achievement is reported to it, or to
reduce the amount of the prize or to divide it i f
the quality of the entries justifies this decision.
Entries should reach the Director of Agriculture,
Punjab, Lahore, not later than 31st October 1946.
MGIPC—M—III-1-2—21-1246—520.