234 



C. U. C. p. ALUMNI JOURNAL 



in air tight containers. From these it 

 was demonstrated that even a short 

 period of heating will result in the hy- 

 drolysis of no less than lo per cent, of 

 the fatty matter of cotton seed. Longer 

 periods of heating or a long continued 

 storage of heated seed will result in the 

 hydrolysis of as much as 70 per cent, 

 of the oil contained in the seed. 33 per 

 cent, of the protein was also hydrolyzed 

 and the total acidity rose to seven times 

 its normal amount. The author stated 

 that cotton seed of this kind is practical- 

 ly valueless, except for use as a fertilizer 

 and for the manufacture of certain kinds 

 of soap. It was also established that the 

 increase in acidity noted was not due to 

 length of storage, but rather to the heat- 

 ing which resulted. Samples taken from 

 parts of the mass which had not become 

 heated were found to possess normal 

 values. 



J* 



Formation of Acetaldehyde. 

 H. Mueller-Thurgau and A. Oster- 

 walder, in Landiv. Jahbr. Schweis, 191 5, 

 408-420, discuss the formation of acet- 

 aldehyde in wine during and after fer- 

 mentation. The authors had, on a previ- 

 ous occasion, made the claim that acet- 

 aldehyde appears as an intermediary 

 product in alcoholic fermentation. They 

 claim now to have been able to confirm 

 their previous findings by combining the 

 aldehyde with sulphur dioxide, during 

 the fermentation, in this manner protect- 

 ing it from further action. Samples of 

 sterilized grape juice were fermented 

 and small quantities of potassium meta- 

 bisulphite added at varying intervals of 

 time. After completion of fermentation 

 the wine contained considerable quan- 

 tities of combined sulphur dioxide, and 

 the distillate obtained from it after being 



rendered alkaline with sodium carbonate, 

 gave reactions for aldehyde. Similar ex- 

 periments were carried out with solu- 

 tions of sucrose and of dextrose. Cal- 

 culated on 100 grammes of fermented 

 sugar, the distillate from 4 wine samples 

 contained 890, 350, 634 and 454 milli- 

 grammes, from the sucrose solutions 434 

 and 879 milligrammes, and from the 

 dextrose solutions 583 and 1180 milli- 

 grammes of acetaldehyde. These quan- 

 tities naturally do not represent more 

 than a fraction of the acetaldehyde pro- 

 duced, since free sulphur dioxide was 

 only present during a small portion of 

 the total time during which fermenta- 

 tion was' going on, while acetaldehyde is | 

 being formed during the whole period as 

 an essential intermediate product of the 

 sugar decomposition. In finished wines, 

 acetaldehyde may be produced by the 

 oxidation of the alcohol ; it can be caused 

 either by exposure to the air or by stor- 

 ing in partly filled containers. Treat- 

 ment with sulphur dioxide removes it (/. 

 Soc. Chem. Ind., 1916). 



Identification of Croton Oil. 



Comte. J. Phann. Chim., 1916, 14. 38- 

 39. Croton oil, from Croton tiglium, or 

 a mixture of oils containing croton oil, 

 is shaken thoroughly with twice its vol- 

 ume of absolute alcohol. The clear alco- 

 holic solution is then poured on a very 

 concentrated solution of potassium or 

 sodium hydroxide, contained in a test 

 tube, and the whole heated for 30 sec- 

 onds in a bath of boiling water and then 

 set aside to cool. If croton oil is present, 

 a ring possessing either an intense red- 

 dish-brown or reddish-violet color will 

 form at the point of contact of the two 

 liquids. 



