Summary The incidence of breech strike in radically

mulesed weaner sheep was reduced from about 50% to about 5 % by suppression of helminth infection. Predisposition of sheep to flystrike appeared to result from the helminths causing diarrhoea and soiling of the wool in the breech region. Wethers were struck more frequently than ewes. The efficiency of control of breech strike in mulesed weaners is considered in relation to helminth control and crutching.

Acknowledgments We are indebted to our colleagues M. D.

Murray, N. P. H. Graham, and J. E. Watts of the CSIRO Division of Animal Health for their detailed examination of the sheep and to Dr

David Grfiths of the CSIRO Division of Mathe- matics and Statistics for advice on the analysis of the data. Careful technical assistance was provided by J. Nadin, K. Pullen, E. Cooper, E. Evans and R. Sutherland.

References Donald, A. D. (1974)-Proc. Aust. SOC. Anim. Prod.

10: 148. Dun, R. B., and Donnelly, F. B. (1965)-Aust. J. exp.

agric. Anim. Husb. 5: 6 . Foster, G. G., Kitching, R. L., Vogt, W. G., and Whit-

ten, M. J . (1975)--Proc. Ecol. SOC. Aust. 8 (in press). Kendall, M. G. (1962) -Rank Correlation Methods.

Third Edition. Charles Griffin and Co. Ltd, London. Leiper, J. W. G. ( 1 9 6 1 t V e t . Record 63: 885. Morley, F. H. W. (1949)-Agric. Gaz. N.S.W. 60: 543.

(Received for publication 30 June 1975)

BOOK REVIEWS ANIMAL NUTRITION W E A R C H AT THE ROWE’IT RESEARCH INSTITUTE 1971

The report for 1971 gives an account of continuing research in the fields noted in reviews of earlier reports and had additional references t o zinc requirements for SNA synthesis by lymphocytes, zinc deficiency and salivary and intestinal mucus, arsenic accumulation in broilers, function of the omasum, caecal absorption and excretion, hypermagnesaemia and calcitonin secretion, ingestion of animal hairs and plant spicules and the pathogenesis of rumenitis, cell turnover in the small intestine, iron-binding protein in milk and resistance to E. culi in infants, physical stress and bone lesions in pigs, veterinary investigations (brucellosis, toxoplasmmis and abortion in ewes, scours and pneumonia in minimal disease pigs, bog asphodel (Narthecium) (doubtful role in photosensitisation), red deer experiments (hus- bandry, growth rates, milk yield), cattle (swards for

dairy cows, iron-deficiency anaemia in vealers, better utilisation of iron when copper is given, paper “crumble” as feed, growth of hill steers), sheep (pro- tein levels and performance, performance of ewes mated at 6-8 months, feeding ewes in intensive systems, photo- stimulation and hormone therapy), pig (early breeding, undernutrition in pregnancy and lactation, compensatory growth, estimating body composition, use of propionic acid-treated barley, feeding swedes and potatoes).

The review papers are Effect of Diet on Calcium Homeostasis (Care), Progress in the Automation of Analytical Methods (Boyne and Davidson).

Copies of these reports are available from the Rowett Research Institute, Bucksburn, Aberdeen, Scotland, at 90P.

H. McL. Gordon

ANIMAL NUTRITION RESEARCH AT THE ROWETT RESEARCH INSTITUTE 1972 The 1972 Report includes toxic factors in the kidney

bean, cellulolysis by fungal extracts, soft fat in barley- fed lambs, metabolism of phytanic acid, miscellar solu- bilisation of long-chain fatty acids, trace element absorption, zinc in relation to infection and normal healing, assessment of copper status in cattle, storage and metabolism of lead in rats and sheep, acute acid- base disturbance and renal excretion of minerals in sheep, uterine motility in ewes, twinning in cattle, effects of pregnancy and lactation on rumen mucosal metabolism, radiographic studies of suckling lambs, haematology of zinc-deficient sheep, cell kinetics in rumen and small intestine in sheep, hormones and

Australian Veterinary Journal, Vol. 52, July, 1976

histochemical reactions of leucocytes, mixtures of oats, oat husk and soya-bean meal for sheep, microbial pro- tein from surplus grain and root crops, pneumonia in pigs, growth rate of deer calves, wet and dry feeding of calves. The review papers are; John Boyd Orr: Animal Experimentation and the Human Situation (Blaxter - in the interdisciplinary series “Makers of Modern Thought”, University of Aberdeen, 1972), and Recent Advances in Ewe and Lamb Nutrition (Orskov and Robinson).

Copies are available from the Rowett Research Insti- tute, Bucksburn, Aberdeen, Scotland, at 90P.

H. McL. Gordon

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