190 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



of phenacetin and salol in admixture, of tartaric acid, and of raffinose 

 by enzymatic hydrolysis, have been published. 



The results of investigations upon the identification and deter- 

 mination of lactic acid in biological products, upon the separation 

 of lithium from the other alkali metals, upon a study of the Kjeldahl 

 method for determining nitrogen, upon the freezing point of milk 

 as a means of detecting water, upon the detection of watered milk 

 by means of simplified molecular concentration constants, upon the 

 detection of ergot and molds in food and drug products, upon the 

 determination of the quality of gelatin by the measurement of its 

 muta rotation, and upon the quality of commercial litmus papers 

 have been prepared for publication. A method has been devised 

 for distinguishing between bottle fermented and artificially carbon- 

 ated wines. 



The collation of the mass of information upon methods of food 

 and drug analysis accumulated by the bureau described in the report 

 for 1915 has made great progress. Forty-five subjects were finished 

 during the }^ear, making 66 in all since the work was begun. Much 

 of the work is more than compilation, since the aim is to present the 

 bureau's collective experience during the past 15 }^ears. This re- 

 quires not merely the critical sifting of the bureau's records, together 

 with a study of the literature, but also not infrequently independent 

 research. 



CONSERVATION OF FOODSTUFFS. 



Poultry — Eggs. — A precooling plant has been developed, cooled by 

 ice, capable of chilling 15,000 pounds of eggs and poultry a week, 

 costing, installed, approximately $800. With ice at $3 per ton it has 

 been found in actual commercial use to effect a saving of at least $22 

 per carload in handling and chilling. The project upon improving the 

 methods of fleshing poultry for the market has been continued. The 

 work upon the transportation of perishables has been facilitated by 

 the improvement of the method of installing resistance thermometers 

 in refrigerator cars so that the temperature of the interior of a 

 considerable number of cars may be observed simultaneously. The 

 results of the previous work on damage to eggs in transit are being 

 seen plainly throughout the country in greatly lessened waste at des- 

 tination. Reports for the metropolitan district of New York City 

 indicate that 41,161 dozens arrived broken during the calendar year 

 1915, while approximately twice that number were broken on arrival 

 during 1914. In the study of the cold storage of eggs particular at- 

 tention has been paid to the devising of methods to prevent stored 

 eggs from acquiring the so-called " storage taste." Bulletin No. 224, 

 "A Study of the Preparation of Frozen and Dried Eggs in the 

 Producing Section," has been issued. 



An investigation has been made of the contents of the crop of 

 fowls for the purpose of furnishing data to detect the feeding, as a 

 makeweight, of excessive quantities of sand just before slaughtering. 



Fish. — Demonstrations in the preparation of fresh shrimp for the 

 market with cleanliness, suitable boiling in brine, and thorough cool- 

 ing has been of material value to the shrimp shippers of the southern 

 east coast in the conduct of their business. 



