FOODS — HUMAN NUTEITION. 661 



without affecting tlie meat wben fed to niau or animals. He now points ont tliat 

 fowls ingesting sucb insects will yield eggs containing cantliarides. Tlie amount 

 found was exceedingly small, and therefore not injurious. 



Nitrog'en and phosphoric acid in wheat and flour, L. Vuaflart {Jour. Agr. 

 Prat., n. ser., 22 {1911), No. 39, pp. 395, 396). — In connection with other work 

 the author has sought to determine the relation between the nitrogen and 

 phosphoric acid present in wheat and flour. He finds that while the nitrogen 

 varies considerably with the season, the amount of phosphoric acid present 

 remains approximately constant under otherwise similar conditions. Experi- 

 ments are being made to determine whether or not it is possible to increase 

 the phosphoric acid by means of fertilizers rich in phosijhates. 



Acidity in wheat flour influenced by factors other than unsoundness, C. O. 

 SwANSON {Amer. Miller, 40 {1912), No. 2, pp. 12^, 125). — From the analytical 

 data reported, the author concludes that "in a normal sound flour the greater 

 part of the acidity value is due to phosphates normally present in the flour, 

 and the rest of the acidity is, mostly if not all, due to amino compounds also 

 normally present in the flour. Further, as the phosphates and the amino com- 

 pounds occur to the smallest extent in the interior of the wheat kernel and 

 to the largest extent in the outer portions and in the bran, the flour streams 

 from which a flour is made up and the method of milling will be the great 

 factor in determining the acidity value. . . . 



"A high acidity value does not necessarily mean that the flour is made from 

 unsound wheat. It means that it contains a large proportion of those streams 

 which should go into a lower commercial grade or that the method of milling in 

 regard to cleaning or purification is faulty." 



Vegetables as a possible factor in the dissemination of typhoid fever, R. H. 

 Creel {Puh. Health and Mar. Hosp. Ser v. U. 8., Pul). Health Rpts., 21 {1912), 

 No. 6, pp. 187-193). — The author concludes from experiments reported that 

 "plants cultivated in contaminated soil will take up on the leaves and stems, 

 as they grow through the soils, organisms existing therein. The Bacillus 

 typhosus was recovered from the tips of leaves that were, to the naked-eye 

 appearances, free from soil, although it is presumable that microscopic particles 

 of earth were adherent to the leaves. Rainfall will not free vegetables from 

 infected material. . . . Under conditions most unfavorable to the B. typhosus, 

 the infection lasted at least 31 days, a period sufliciently long for some 

 varieties of lettuce and radishes to mature." 



A study of maple sirup, A. McGili. {Lah. Inland Rev. Dept. Canada Bui. 

 228, pp. Ifl ) . — The author reports the results of the examination of 456 samples 

 of maple sirup, proposes standards for maple sirup, and outlines and dis- 

 cusses methods of examination. 



Cheap confectionery, C. H. La Wall {Penn. Dept. Agr. Bill. 21G, pp. 21). — 

 Data are given regarding the examination of 259 samples. 



Sixty-two samples were in a condition described as "dirty," and the wrap- 

 ping of each piece of candy in waxed paper as a protection from dirt is recom- 

 mended. Forty of the sami)les examined were thus protected. The practice 

 of combining toys with candies, or of making articles of candy which are to be 

 played with before they are eaten, the author believes should be discouraged, 

 as it " largely increases the chances of dangerous contamination." 



Neither talc, terra alba, nor similar earthy materials were found, nor was 

 saccharin, nor preservatives such as salicylic or benzoic acids. "No instance 

 was found in which any but the authorized colors were used when single 

 colors were present. Where a mixture or a number of colors occurred in the 

 same piece of striped candy no attempt was made to effect a separation. . « . 



