INVESTIGATIONS IN HUMAN NUTRITION. 379 



longed boiling) seems to make the jelly titicky from the excess of invert sugar, and 

 also to alter the pectin so that it will not gelatinize. 



The pink color of guava jelly does not seem to depend on any pink color in the flesh 

 of the fruit, though the white guavas yield a lighter jelly. The depth of color seems 

 to be increased by additional amount of acid, prolonged boiling, and higher tempera- 

 ture at which the boiling is stopped. 



G. W. Shaw, of the California Experiment Station,** has studied the 

 comparative vahie of beet sugar and cane sugar for canning and jelly 

 making, and finds there is no difference when sugars are of the same 

 grade. The same publication reports studies of the possibility of 

 marketing prunes in cans, which led to the conclusion that when thus 

 packed they would keep indefinitely without sugaring. 



The general subject of handling and caring for food in the home has 

 been discussed in a Farmers' Bulletin by Mrs. Mary Hinman Abel,^ 

 and the subject of caring for canned goods of domestic and commercial 

 manufacture is discussed together with other related topics. 



Dehydration or evaporation has long been followed as a method of 

 preserving fruits, meat, and vegetables, and in recent years the 

 process has been greatly improved and applied to other materials. 

 Dent,'' of the Navy Department, reports the results of a test of such 

 goods in the United States Navy. He found that dehydrated eggs 

 and a majority of the dehydrated fruits and vegetables studied gave 

 good results, but the powdered milk was not so satisfactor}^. Some 

 information is also given by Dent regarding the Cjuantity of dehydrated 

 mat(^rial required in comparison with fresh goods. 



Booth,** in a paper on desiccated milk, describes the process of manu- 

 facture of such goods and gives analyses for a number of commercial 

 products containing varying amounts of fat, corresponding to the 

 use of skimmed or partially skimmed milk for evaporating. 



LABOR-SAVING DEVICES AND HOME CONVENIENCES. 



Much interest has been shown in fireless cookers and the question 

 of their ])racticability. The re])ort of severe tests made by the 

 Commissary-General's Office of the War Dei)artment « describes the 

 special form develo])ed for army use as a sim])le and durable means 

 of furnishing hot, well-cooked meals to troo])s under adverse con- 

 ditions. A number of ex])erimental studies with the fireless cooker 

 have been reported from the University of Wisconsin by Ellen A. 

 Huntington/ which had to do with the relative merits of materials 



a California Sta. Circ. 33. 

 6 U. S. Dept. Agr., Farmers' Bui. 375. 



c Navy Department, Bur. Supplies and Accts., Mem. Inform. Off. Pay Corps [etc.], 

 No. 85, p. G'2f). 



d Spice Mill, 31 (1908), No. 10, p. (iL'O. 



< War Dept. [U. S.], Rpts. Commis. Gen., 1906-1909. 



/Bui. Univ. Wis., No. 217. 



