26 



inconvenience. The present gas supplj' is that furnished Iw the small 

 gas machine used in the temporary laboratory, and the supply is so 

 small that work is practically confined to one thing at a time. The 

 Honolulu Gus Company is at present laying mains in the city, and 

 it is hoped that they will soon have a main near enough the station 

 for gas to be obtained from that source. 



A few additions of standard reference works were made to the 

 library during the year. Among these was a complete set of Hoppe- 

 Seyler's Zeitschrift fiir physiologische Chemie. 



LABORATORY WORK. 



The laboratory work may be divided into three classes: (1) Routine 

 work; the analysis according to official or well-approved methods of 

 materials, such as soils, fertilizers, and fodders, to determine total or 

 partial composition. (2) Miscellaneous work; the examination of sam- 

 ples of a miscellaneous character to determine composition, value, or 

 adaptability for special purposes. This work for the most part is 

 undertaken at the request of individuals, and quite often the satisfac- 

 tory answer of such inquiries entails research work, the devising of 

 new methods of analysis, search for new compounds, or the applica- 

 tion of known facts in explanation of new or little understood con- 

 ditions. (8) Research work proper. The work done in the new 

 laboratory from November, 1904, to June 30, 1905, may be noted 

 under these three heads, as follows: 



ROUTINE WORK. 



This was confined to analysis of fodder samples. These analyses 

 were made by the official method, and, in addition to the usual analj^- 

 sis, determinations were made of albuminoid nitrogen, potash, lime, 

 and phosphoric acid. The object in making these analyses was to 

 furnish material for publication on the composition of Hawaiian-grown 

 fodders, and, in the meantime, supply data sufficient to answer some 

 of the frequent inquiries which come to the station regarding the 

 composition of such material. Sixty-three samples were analyzed, 

 the moi-e common fodders being represented by from two to six 

 samples. A large number, however, are as yet represented by but 

 one sample each. As quite a number of fodders, especially grasses, 

 are as 3'et not represented in this series, and as in nearly all cases the 

 samples are too few to establish maximum, minimum, and average 

 composition, it is the intention to continue this work during the com- 

 ing year. It is also the intention to complete the ash analyses of these 

 samples, and it is hoped to supplement the analysis of Hawaiian- 

 grown fodders by feeding experiments, in cooperation with individuals 

 or institutions having dairy or othei- stock. 



