NOTKS. 397 



twonty-third annual convention in Washin;;ton. I). C, Xovombcr 7-0, 1900. The 

 meeting was well attended. Prof. W. ^I. Hays, Assi.stant Secretary of Agri- 

 culture, Prof. C. E. ;Munroe, of the George Washington University, and Prof. 

 Alexius de Sigiuond, of Budapest, Hungary, upon invitation of the association, 

 delivered brief addresses appropriate to the occasion. 



The presidential address of C. G. Hopkins was entitled, " The Duty of 

 Chemistry to Agriculture." This dealt mainly with the question of soil fer- 

 tility, and included a review of investigations by the Bureau of Soils of this 

 Department, work of the experiment stations in Hlinois, Minnesota, and Ohio, 

 and data obtained at Rothamsted. 



In the following note concerning the procivdings no cFfort is made to incor- 

 porate the results of investigations as embodied in the recommendaticms of 

 I'eferees and conunittees as these are regularly published promptly in circular 

 form by the Bureau of Chemistry. The detailed proceedings are also pub- 

 lished by the same bureau. Reference will be made merely to the nature of 

 the reports and papers whicli were for the most part submitted iu abstract 

 form. 



The subject of food adulteration was, as usual, a prominent feature of the 

 programme. Reports of 14 associate referees on this subject were presented. 



E. F. Ladd made a brief preliminary report on colors, which was supplemented 

 by a paper by II. M. Loomis on the solubility and extraction of colors, and by a 

 paper by A. G. Nieholls on the detection of certain vegetable colors iu foods. 

 C. II. Jones, associate I'eferee on saccharine products, reported that the work 

 on this subject during the year had been confined to maple products with par- 

 ticular reference to the malic acid value. Cooperative work by 13 analysts 

 was reported. II. C. Lythgoe presented a report on fruit products. II. E. 

 Barnard reported cooperative work by 10 chemists on the analysis of beer and 

 recommended methods for adoption. C. A. Crampton reported on distilled 

 liquors. 



No report was presented on vinegar, but a paper entitled the Fuller's Earth 

 Test for Caramel in Vinegar was submitted by W. L. Dubois. The method is 

 considered unreliable and of value only as a preliminary test. E. M. Chace 

 reported that the work on flavoring extracts had been confined to the proposed 

 methods for the determination of citral in lemon oils and extracts. Results 

 obtained by 4 chemists were included in the report. W. M. Allen, associate 

 referee on baking powder and baking chemicals, reported work on the deter- 

 mination of carbon dioxid. L. M. Tolman, associate referee on fats and oils, 

 reported that much had been accomplished during the j'ear in the cooperative 

 investigations on the cold test. H. C. Lythgoe submitted a brief report on 

 diary products for the associate referee, A. E. Leach. R. E. Doolittle i-eported 

 on condiments other than spices. This consisted of an outline of methods 

 which the associate referee had found of value in judging the products be- 

 longing to this class. C. D. Howard, associate referee on tea and coffee, 

 reported that the work done by him on this subject during the year had b(»en 

 confined principally to a study of methods of determining caffetannic acid.. 

 Xo cooperative work was undertaken. In this connection a review of the 

 methods for chemical analysis of tea w-as submitted by R. E. Doolittle and 



F. O. Woodruff. This gave the results of determinations of water extract, 

 tannin, and thein by different methods. 



A paper on the determination of moisture in tea by -R. E. Doolittle and 

 A. W. Ogdfu was also read. Drying in nn oven was compared with drying 

 in a current of hydrogim. W. li. Dubois, as associate refen^e on food preserva- 

 tives, gave the results of his investigations on the determinaticm of salicylic 



