RECENT WORK IN AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE. 



AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY— AGROTECHNY. 



Physical-chemical methods as applied to physiolog'y, L. As her {TIandb. 

 Plii/siol. Mdliodik. I ilHOS). 2. Aht.. />/>. IJ.i-.'.H, pgs. Jf2).—A description of 

 the more iiii[)()rtiuit physical-chemical methods which are eniployetl in physio- 

 logical research. 



Progress in fat and oil chemistry for 1908, F. Ulzeb and P. Pastrovich 

 iChcm. Ztg., 33 (1909), Nos. 153, pii. 1337-1339; 15J,, pi). 13J,5-]3.',7).—Th[s is 

 a resume of the advances made in fat and oil chemistry during 1908, especially 

 of those phases pertaining to pure and analytical chemistry. 



Linseed oil and other seed oils, W. D. Ennis {New York, 1909, pp. XIV+ 

 316, figs. 71). — This book treats chiefly of the production of linseed oil and 

 the chemical control of its manufacture. In it are discussed the development 

 of the linseed-oil industry in the United States, the handling of seed and the dis- 

 position of its impurities, grinding, tempering the ground seed and molding the 

 press cake, pressing and trimming the cakes, the hydraulic operative equipment, 

 the treatment of the oil from the press to the consumer, the preparation of the 

 cake for the market, the oil yield and output, shrinkage in production, cost of 

 production, operation and equipment of typical mills, other methods of manu- 

 facturing, the seed crop, the seed trade, chemical characteristics of linseed oil, 

 boiled oil, the linseed-oil market, and the feeding of oil cake. Chapter 18 

 deals with refined and special oils, while chapter 22 deals with the cotton-seed 

 oil industry. 



Melting and solidification points of mixtures of stearic, palmitic, and 

 oleic acids, E. Carlinfanti and M. Levi-Malvano {Gaz. Chim. ItaL, 39 {1909), 

 II, Ao. 4, pp. 353-385, figs. 6; abs. in Anahjst, 35 {1910), No. 1,06, pp. 30, 31).— 

 From their work the authors conclude that mixtures of stearic and palmitic 

 acids form 4 series of solid solutions, and one additional compound which cor- 

 responds to the old margaric acid and to the newer daturic acid, and possibly 

 to the synthetic margaric acid of Heintz and Krafft. Mixtures of stearic and 

 oleic acids, and of palmitic and oleic acids, form only a single series of solid 

 solutions. 



Tables are presented of the results, and when these are platted and the pro- 

 portion of oleic acid found from the iodin number it is possible to calculate 

 the proportion of stearic and palmitic acid in a mixture of the three. 



The ferments and their action, C. Oppenheimer {Die Fermente und Hire 

 Wirkiingeii. Leipsic, 1909, 3. ed., rev., pp. XI+Ji91). — This is the " special part" 

 of the third revised edition. The enzyms or ferments treated are the esterases, 

 carbohydrases, amidases, proteases, coagulases, oxidases, catalases, and fer- 

 mentation enzyms or zymases. The references to the literature are a valuable 

 feature. 



Retardation of rennet action, S. G. Hedin {Ztschr. Physiol, Chem., 63 

 {1909), No. 2-3, pp. 1^3-15 Jt). — This is a continuation of the author's re- 

 searches on the effect of charcoal on the inhibition of rennet action. He finds 

 that the retardation can be prevented by different substances, such as clarified 



