1068 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



ing lecithin and other questions which have to do witli the different radicals 

 present in this substance are discussed at length. 



On the changes in certain meat essences kept for several years in tins, 

 G. S. Buchanan and S. B. Schryvee (Loral Govt. Bd. [(It. Brit.], Med. Dcijt.. 

 Rpts. Itisp. Foods, 1906, No. 1, piJ. 11). — Samples of essence of beef in tins, 

 which were several years old and had been returned fi'om South Africa, were 

 not in good condition, as was shown by the appearance of the cans and can 

 contents. Chemical and i)hysiological studies were therefore made of such 

 goods. 



" The only substantial difference that could be detected in the old samples as 

 contrasted with the new was that the former contained appreciable quantities 

 of metal which has been dissolved out from the tin and reprecipitated in 

 insoluble form, whereas the latter was free from such metals. The metal con- 

 sisted almost entirely of tin with only the smallest traces of lead. . . . 



" With regard to the organic contents of the several tins, the general conclu- 

 sion may be drawn that these have undergone very little change. If products 

 of the nature of meat extracts and essences be put on the market in glass 

 vessels, there is no reason why they should not remain in good condition for 

 indefinite periods, especially when it is remembered that they can be sterilized 

 in small bulk. These remarks are intended to apply only to such bodies as 

 extracts or essences which contain no coagulable protein. They would hardly 

 apply, for example, to such pi'oducts as meat juices." 



When samples of the meat essences properly diluted with physiological saline 

 solution were injected into the peritoneal cavities of rabbits no disturbances 

 were noted. " The old samples were perfectly nontoxic under these condi- 

 tions." 



Oysters, S. J. Ckumbine (Bui. Kans. Bd. Health, 3 {1901), No. 2, pp. 40, 

 J/l). — The author insists that oysters should not be floated or fattened and that 

 sanitary measures should be followed when they are shipped in bulk. 



" Most people regard the white, plump oyster as preferable to the gray, rather 

 thin oyster. The natural color of the oyster is a dingy g:ray, sometimes slightly 

 tinged with green or red, according to the locality where grown and the time of 

 year they are gathered. The white plump oyster is the one that is water- 

 soaked and bleached and has lost the ' sea flavor.' The size of the oyster 

 depends in the main on age, the very large ones being from four to five years 

 old." 



Note on the value of cocoa as a food and condiment, R. O. Neumann (Arch. 

 Hyff., 60 (1907), No. 3, pp. 175-190). — The author gives a revision of some of 

 the calculations in his previously published article on this subject (E. S. R., 18, 

 p. 757), but states that the revised figures do not in any way change the con- 

 clusions which were reported. 



Fresh-water algae as human food, S. Namikawa (Bill. Col. Agr., Tolnjo 

 Imp. Univ., 7 (1906), pp. 123, 12'i; ahs. in Jour. Chcm. Soc. [London], 90 (1906). 

 No. 530, II, p. 8SJf). — Two edible Japanese marine algiie are described and an 

 analysis of one species is reported. 



The digestibility and utilization of some polysaccharid carbohydrates 

 derived from lichens and marine algae, T. Saiki (Jour. Biol. Chcm., 2 (1906), 

 No. 3, pp. 251-265). — By means of artificial digestion experiments and experi- 

 ments with small dogs and a man, studies were made of the digestibility of the 

 cai'bohydrates of lichen and algae, including among others Iceland moss (Cetrariu 

 islandica), Irish moss (Chondrus crispus), and agar-agar. The experiments 

 indicated, in the author's opinion, that the polysaccharid carbohydrates " were 

 not readily transformed to sugar by carlxihydrate-digesting enzyms of animal 

 origin and scarcely more readily by vegetable enzyms or bacteria. Correspond- 



