762 



In experiments with regard to freezing milk, 2 gallons of milk con- 

 tained in a tightly covered oblong vessel were placed in a refrigerated 

 salt solution and kept at a tempei-ature of 14° Fah. for 3 hours. Sam- 

 I)les of ice from the top (cream) and bottom (skim-milk), and of the 

 portion remaining liquid were analyzed with the following results : 



Composition of frozen milk. 



These figures prove what has been shown on previous occasions, that frozen niiik 

 contains a much higher proportion of water than the original milk in which the ice 

 was formed, and that the part remaining liquid is a concentrated milk. The ice is 

 by no means a solid mass, but a conglomerate of crystalline plates. The fact that the 

 latter when examined singly are found to be quite clear, proves that fat globules 

 do not enter into the crystals. The component pai'ts of the "solids not fat" seem to 

 participate in the formation of the crystals in about the same relative proportion in 

 which they are present in the milk. This was so at least in the case to which my 

 remarks refer. 



The behavior of milk when exposed to low temperatures is not without iutercs* 

 in itself, but apart from this it is also of some practical importance. People who 

 are ignorant of what is actually taking place when milk freezes would naturally see 

 no harm in melting milk ice and using the liquid obtained as milk. If a milk vender 

 would proceed in this way he might easily get into trouble. 



In the discussion which followed, the president of the society, R. 

 Hehner, in referring to the cases of abnormally low content of volatile 

 acids in butter cited by Dr. Vieth, said he had found that "when the 

 price of butter rose the number of samples that yielded an abnormally 

 low proportion of volatile acids at once went up," and he believed the 

 practice of adulteration to be closely connected with tlie market price. 

 In reply Dr. Yieth stated that his experience went the other way. He 

 had analyzed a large number of samples of butter, chiefly from France, 

 Holsteiu, Denmark, and Sweden, and had never found any definite con- 

 nection between the prices of butter and the quantity of volatile acids. 



Keferring to the ash in milk, he said that his observations on a large 

 number of samples had shown the ash to be very nearly 8 per cent of 

 the solids not fat. 



The two following abstracts are from Bulletin No. 9 of the College of 

 Agriculture, Tokio, Japan, Both of the articles from which they were 

 taken were reported by Dr. O. Kellner : 



Researches on the action of lime as a manure, with special regard to paddy 

 fields, 0. Kellner, H. Sakano, D. Sato, and S. Shinjo (pp. 1-25). — " In many 



