BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 873 



Tt should Ih^ noted, howovor, tliat while the nniount of ammonlaeal 

 nitroiren present in a jiiven sample of eirirs may be taken as an index 

 of aee or of deterioration, ihere are such small dilTerenees appar- 

 ently between the undoubtedly wholesome eirirs, sueh as the No. 2 

 irrade. and those >Yhieh are irenerally repu-iled as inedible, suoh as 

 spots," that it wouKl be diftieult for a chemist, jjiven a mixture con- 

 sistini; only in part of "spot" oirirs, the remainder beiuix of No. 1 

 or No. 2 jxrailes, to detect the ''spots" by analysis. It would thei*e- 

 fore seem that jnvventive rather than corrective mcasiires would be 

 more likely to secure for the consumer a wholesome and proiH>rly 

 prepared product. 



Other lines of chemical work have been and are beintr carried out in 

 connection with Ciiirs. but the results have been unsatisfactory or are 

 not yet complete, anil are therefore not reinn'ted. 



A larije amount of time has Ihxmi i^iven to the study of various sub- 

 jects of minor im[iortance, as, for example, the compc^sition of air- 

 tight (\tverina\s for hams and bacon, methods for denaturiuij origans 

 intended to be used for lisli fooil, and various patented methods for 

 cooking and curinix meats. 



01 rs .\^n nisiMKCTAN rs. 



The examination of samjdes of dij^s. disinfciManls. and more or less 

 relateil materials submitted by maiuifacturers. bureau ins[iectors, and 

 other (lovernment olVicials has been ci^itinued as iti the past. The 

 concentrated dip prepared by the division for use in the wiM-k of 

 tick eradication, which was mentioned in my last report, has con- 

 tinued to prove most satisfactory. It has not been the policy to 

 cncouraire the use of this dip, but, nevertheless, in resnonst.^ to insist- 

 ent demands a quantity suflicient to make 111.0(H) <xallons of diluted 

 bath was invjiarcil ami shijtped ilurinir the year. 



During;; the past year the entire time of two chemists and a part 

 of the time of other employees has been devoted to the work of enforc- 

 iuLT the insci'ticide act of 1010. l^y onler of the SciTctary of .Vc'ri- 

 ctilture, the bureati was tlirecte»l to make the luvessarv examination of 

 ollicial samples of insecticides and fuuiiicides intended to be useil in 

 prevent iuir, destroyinji, repellinir. or mitijjfatinp: insects and funi^i 

 which may atTect horses, cattle, sheep, swine, or «roats. This has 

 resulted in the examination of a jri'cat variety of products, which are 

 mostly I'lassilied under the headings of coal-tar creosote ami soaji mix- 

 tures, lime ami sulphur, nicotin solutions, tobacct> extracts, soaps and 

 (Mutments, various oily mixtures, and a number of special jiroducts 

 too varied in character to be classified. In addition to the routine 

 examination of these ollicial samples, special lines of research have 

 been necessary in prosecutins: this work, as, for example, a stuily of 

 the pois(Mious properties of varicMis phenolic prejvirations, a sttidy 

 of the methods for iletermiuinir sulphur in i>riranic substances, and the 

 elaboration of metluxls for the examination of insect icitles in powder 

 form. Durinu: the year IK) samnles of ai-ficles whii'h had beeii 

 ship]^ed in interstate commerce an(l 17 sainples of importe«l ins,>oti- 

 ciiles were examined in accordance with the jn'ovisions of tlu» insecti- 

 cide act. 



The study of the ellci't of the passaije of sheep n\Mn\ the composi- 

 tion of dippini: llnids has bee!i continued, and it has been ch^arly 

 ehown thai both lime-sulphur and nicotin dippiujj lluiils, as well as 



