268 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



In extendiii*!: the work upon the utilization of corn cobs, described 

 in the report for the fiscal year 1918-19, it has been found that the 

 vnlnnble aldehyde, furfural, may be obtained from this material in 

 coniniorcial quantities. The data haye been publislied. 



The \york of the bureau upon the production of rare sugars having 

 been an imj)ortant factor in establishing their manufacture commer- 

 cially in the United States, in future the work will be limited to the 

 production of such rare sugars as can not be obtained commercially. 

 During the year a wide variety of pure rare sugars was furnished to 

 various investigators for research purposes. Progress has been made 

 in the development of a method for producing the rare sugar sorbose. 

 New directions for the preparation of rhamnose and of levulose have 

 been made ready for publication. 



Papers have been printed upon the amide of a-r/-mannohcp tonic 

 acid, upon the rotatory powers of the amides of several a-hydrox}' 

 acids of the sugar group, upon the occurrence of melezitose in honey, 

 upon the crystallography of melezitose, upon the heptoses from gulose 

 and some of their derivatives, and upon the acid fermentation of 

 xylose. 



Papers upon crystalline chlorotetracetyl fructose and related de- 

 rivatives, upon the isomeric hexacetates of a-<^-mannoheptose, upon 

 sedoheptose, a new sugar from Sedum syectdbile^ upon volemite, upon 

 cellulose phthalate, and upon the optical properties of a series of 

 heptitols are in press. 



FATS AND OILS. 



For the first time the nature and proportions of the fatty acids 

 found in cottonseed oil Avere determined and published. Mj^ristic, 

 stearic, arachidic, and oleic acids were found. Myristic acid had 

 not previously been found in cottonseed oil, and it had not been 

 determined whether stearic or arachidic acid or both were present. 

 In cooperation with the Society of Cotton Products Analysts, it 

 was established that the locality in which cotton seed is produced 

 has but the slightest influence upon the composition of the oil ob- 

 tained from that seed. The physical and chemical constants of a 

 large number of authentic oils from all parts of the country were 

 determined and were found surprisingly uniform. Undoubtedly 

 .some other factor, probably faulty sampling, is responsible for the 

 contrary statements reported in the literature. The bureau's pub- 

 lication on the subject will undoubtedly finallj^ settle this contro- 

 verted point. 



A supplement to Dej)artment Bulletin 769, The Production and 

 Conservation of Fats and Oils in the United States, revising the sta- 

 tistics of this industry up to January, 1919, has been issued. Papers 

 have been printed upon the composition of tomato seed, Hubbard 

 squash seed, okra seed, and hollyhock seed oils, and upon Chinese 

 colza, a A'aluable oil seed not Avell known in this country. The oils 

 from okra and hollyhock both give the Halphen reaction, hitherto 

 regarded as characteristic of cottonseed oil. Okra, hollyhock, and 

 cotton belong to the same plant family, the Malvaceae. The methods 

 of preparing the menthol and phenyl-hydrazine derivatives of the 

 higher fatty acids, as well as the properties of these compounds. 



