498 EXPEEIMENT STATION EECORD. 



H. L. White, reported cooi^erative work with methods for the estimation in 

 wheat flour of soluble carbohydrates, gluten, gliadin, edestin and leucosiu, amid 

 nitrogen, nitrous nitrogen, moisture, and acidity of watery extract. 



As regards condiments other than spices, W. J. McGee, associate referee, re- 

 ported cooperative work done almost wholly with tomato catsup. He recom- 

 mended a method for the determination of lactic acid and the adoption pro- 

 visionally of methods for the analysis of tomato products. The cooperative 

 work on cocoa products, as reported by the associate referee, W. L. Dubois, con- 

 cerned the determination of fat in chocolate, and total solids, crude starch, 

 and casein in milk chocolate. H. E. Barnard, associate referee on preserva- 

 tives, reported that his work had been almost wholly devoted to the detection 

 and estimation of formic acid, which he considered more important at present 

 than the study of better known preservatives. 



The report of H. C. Lythgoe, associate referee on water in foods, dealt with 

 the results of a comparative study between the official and vacuum methods, 

 using different dehydrating agents, of which phosphorus pentoxid seemed to be 

 the most feasible. H. M. Loomis, associate referee on heaVy metals in foods, 

 reported on the determination of tin in foods, principally by the Dooiittle and 

 Lourie and the Schreiber and Tabor methods. 



The referee on the separation of nitrogenous bodies (meat proteins), A. D. 

 Emmett, reported that the Kjeldahl-Gunning-Arnold method gave equally good 

 results as the Kjeldahl method for total meat proteins. Additional data on 

 soluble, insoluble, and coagulable nitrogen, creatin, and creatinin in meats and 

 meat extracts were included in the report. The associate referee on vegetable 

 proteids, T. B. Osborne, pointed out that present knowledge of the quantitative 

 methods available does not j-et justify definite recommendations. In view of 

 the recognized difficulties, extended investigations were advocated, and a brief 

 outline of a plan presented for undertaking them. A committee was appointed 

 to consider these recommendations. 



The associate referee on dairy px'oducts, L. I. Nurenberg, dealt with tests 

 for distinguishing between raw and pasteurized milk and some recently pro- 

 posed reactions for detecting old milk, viz, Schardinger's, Rothenfusser's, 

 benzidiu, and alcoholic precipitation (coagulation) with a reagent containing 

 alizarin for approximating acidity. Bacterial counts were made- in conjunc- 

 tion with the tests. Recommendations were made that the formaldehyde- 

 methylene blue reaction, the methylene blue reaction, and the 68-per cent 

 alcohol precipitation method be further studied. 



The referee, W. J. Jones, and associate referee, C. S. Cathcart, reported 

 cooperative work on the analysis of feeding stuffs, which dealt mainly with 

 methods for determining acidity and the petroleum-ether method for fat. In 

 the study of acidity no close agreement among the results was obtained, and 

 no apparent definite relation could be found between the acidity figures and 

 the amount of protein. The petroleum-ether method for crude fat showed 

 closer duplicates among the majority of analysts than the official method, but 

 hi all samples a lower average result. The official method is considered easier 

 to conduct and to allow more perfect and rapid drying of the extract, but the 

 petroleum-ether method more nearly gives the real amount of fat present, and 

 was recommended for further study. 



L. F. Kebler, the referee on medicinal plants and drugs, discussed methods 

 of sampling and analysis, and the inadequate standards of the present time. 

 Special stress was laid on securing proper samples and on the fact that sam- 

 pling must be modified according to the nature of the goods to be tested. In 

 drawing conclusions, all available means, such as physical, organoleptic, chemi- 

 cal, mechanical, and microscopical must be enlisted. 



