Advances in helioseismology

Globally coherent oscillation modes were discovered in the sun about a decade ago, providing a unique seismological probe of the solar interior. Current observations detect modes that are phase-coherent for up to 1 year, with surface velocity amplitudes as low as 2 millimeters per second, and thousands of mode frequencies have been measured to accuracies as high as 1 part in 10(5). This article discusses the properties of these oscillation modes and the ways in which they are adding to our understanding of the structure and dynamics of the sun.     

Book reviews

The Avian Egg: Chemistry & Biology, by R. W. Burley and D. V. Vadehra, 1989. v+472 pp. illustrated. New York. John Wiley & Sons. £66.70. ISBN 0–471–849952.

A Colour Atlas of Avian Anatomy, by J. McLelland. 1990. 127 pp. illustrated. London, Wolfe Publishing Ltd. £30. ISBN 0–7234–1575–7.

The Tropical Agriculturalist—Poultry, by A. J. Smith, 1990. vi + 218 pp. CTA/Macmillan, London. ISBN 0–333–52306–7.     

The nutritional value of low lathyrogenic Lathyrus (Lathyrus sativus) for growing chicks

1. The feeding value of new low β‐N‐oxalyl‐amino‐L‐alanine (BOAA) lines of Lathyrus sativus (lathyrus) and the benefits of dehulling the seed or of pre‐adapting chicks to lathyrus‐based diets were examined in several experiments.

2. Chicks fed on diets containing 400 g/kg of the low (1.3 g BOAA/kg seed) and medium (2.2 g BOAA/kg seed) BOAA lines did not differ (P>0.05) in weight gain (WG) or in apparent fat and protein digestibilities compared to birds fed on a wheat‐based diet.

3. Consumption of 600 g low BOAA lathyrus/kg diet caused a slight, but significant (P< 0.05), decrease in WG. Food efficiency decreased as the amount of dietary lathyrus was increased, suggesting that lathyrus may contain an antinutritive factor(s) other than BOAA.

4. Removal of the hull (70 g hull/kg seed) from the seed did not affect chick performance (P> 0.05).

5. Pre‐adapting chicks for 7 d to diets containing up to 600 g medium line lathyrus/kg diet did not reduce the detrimental effects of the lathyrus.

6. Although dehulling and pre‐adaptation of chicks to lathyrus were not beneficial, the low and medium lines of lathyrus tested show potential for use in chick diets up to at least 400 g lathyrus/kg diet.