AGEICULTUEAL CHEMISTRY AGROTECHNY. 611 



method (E. S. R., 23. p. 418) one would be led to suspect that it was adulter- 

 ated with 10 per cent of coconut oil. 



Coconut oils of high iodin numbers, W. D. Richardson {Jour. Indus, and 

 Engin. Cliem., 3 {1911). No. 8, p. 574; a&s. in Chcm. Ztg., 35 {1911), No. 125, 

 Repert., p. 519). — Coconut oils from various shipments had iodin numbers of from 

 18 to 24. An inquirj^ brought out the fact that 2 factories mixed the copra oil 

 with the oil from parings of the rind from the coconut meat. The oil obtained 

 from fresh meat by extracting with ether in the cold was found to have a 

 figure of 8.9, and that from the rind one of 40.25. 



In regard to the examination of copra {Chem. Ztg., 35 {1911), No. 82, p. 

 155). — Owing to the fact that imiform methods are not used for determining 

 the fat contained in copra products, uniform x'esults are not obtained in the 

 laboratories dealing with copra products. A method is therefore proposed which 

 it is believed ought to be used by the copra industry in general. 



Candelilla wax, J. M. Sanders {Proc. Chem. Soc. London, 21 {1911), No. 

 390, p. 250; abs. in Jour. Soc. Chem. Indus., 30 {1911), No. 21, p. 1266).— "A 

 sample of candelilla wax, prepared in the month of January, 1911, from plants 

 collected in Coahuila, had the appearance of a greenish white mass with a 

 granular fracture. It contained a considerable proportion of water, and when 

 freed from this, was dark brown, and gave the following values : Melting point 

 67.5° C, density 0.9850, acid value 14.39, saponification value 46.76, iodin value 

 (Hiibl) 16.6 per cent, unsaponifiable matter 77 per cent, hydrocarbons 48.6 

 per cent. The wax contained hentriacontane and myricyl alcohol." 



A modification of the Herzfeld-Bohme method for the detection of mineral 

 oil in other oils, F. P. Veitch and M.G. Donk {U. 8. Dept. Agr., Bur. Chcm. 

 Circ. 85, pp. 15, fig. 1). — ^The Herzfeld-Bohme method « was modified for the 

 purpose of detecting additions of small amounts of mineral oil to turpentine. 

 It is conducted as follows: 



Run 20 cc. of 38-normal sulphuric acid into a Babcock bottle, stopper, and 

 place in ice water, cool, add 5 cc. of the turpentine, again cool, and gradually 

 mix the contents, cooling from time to time (the temperature should not be 

 allowed to rise materially), and when the mixture no longer warms up after 

 shaking agitate thoroughly. Then place the bottle in a water bath in which 

 the water is on a level with the acid and heat to from 60 to 65° C. in the course 

 of from 5 to 10 minutes, keeping the contents thoroughly mixed by vigorously 

 shaking 6 or 7 times. Thorough mixing is one of the essential features of the 

 method. 



" Do not stopper the bottles after turpentine has been added, as they may 

 explode. Cool to room temperature, add ordinary sulphuric acid until the con- 

 tents rise in the graduated portion of neck, and whirl at 1,200 revolutions per 

 minute for 3 or 4 minutes, or allow to stand over night, and read the amount 

 of supernatant liquid. When a small amount of adulterant has been added it 

 is preferable to use a centrifugal machine, reading the refractive index of the 

 upper portion of the residue immediately, as the mineral oil and residual tur- 

 pentine alteration product are thus stratified, the low-reading mineral oil con- 

 stituting the upper portion. A capillary pipette is used in transferring a small 

 portion of the residual oil to the refractometer. . . . 



" With a pure turpentine there will be from 0.02 to 0.05 cc. of a straw-colored, 

 viscous residue, which, if read at once, gives a refractive index at 20° of 1.5100 

 or higher. When adulterated with mineral oil, the residue is a limpid or oily, 

 colorless liquid, having a refractive index of 1.505 to 1.4300 or lower, depending 

 on the kind and amount of adulterant present." 



®Chem. Ztg., 30 (1906), p. 633. 



