502 EXPEEIMENT STATION EECORD. 



bert, Roquefort, Gorgonzola and Liptau cheeses with the formol-titrametrie 

 method. 



The results showed that the degree of protein degeneration can be determined 

 with this method as well as with the precipitation method. One method, 

 however, supplements the other. In this work the formol titration is conducted 

 in the residue from the ammonia distillation and in which 50 cc. of cheese 

 extract is diluted with 100 cc. of water and distilled with barium carbonate. 

 The carbonates and phosphates remaining in the residue are removed by pre- 

 cipitation with 2 cc. of a saturated barium chlorid solution and 5 cc. of a one- 

 fourth-normal barium hydrate solution. The mixture is then made up to 

 200 cc, filtered after standing for 15 minutes, and 100 cc. of filtrate neutralized 

 with hydrochloric acid toward litmus and used for the formol-titration. 



A brief investig-ation on the estimation of lecithin, R. C. Collison {Jour. 

 Biol. Chem., 11 (1912), A'o. 3, pp. 217-220).— According to the results obtained 

 with brain and liver tissue it would seem that the straight extraction method 

 with anhydrous alcohol and anhydrous ether is preferable to the acid-chloro- 

 form-water method which is recommended by Koch (E. S. R., 22, p. 411). The 

 results obtained with the crude reagents and the acid-chloroform-water mixture 

 were found to be uniformlj^ higher, probably due to the inclusion of inorganic 

 or other forms of nonlipoid phosphorus. 



Tests in regard to the behavior of pentoses in fermenting mixtures, W. E. 

 Cross and B. Tollens (Jour. Landic, 59 (,1911), No. J/, pp. ^19-^28; al)S. in 

 Zentbl. Biochcm. u. BiopJtys., 13 (1912), No. 1-2, p. 59). — This work was carried 

 out with arabinose, xylose, methyl pentoses, rhamnose, and extracts made 

 from brewers' grains. These sugars were fermented in solutions containing 

 dextrose and without dextrose. The ferment used was yeast. The nutrient 

 solution in one case was yeast water and in the other one artificially prepared 

 and containing very little organic matter. 



The pentose solutions which were free from hexoses were stable, showing no 

 change after a long time, and those solutions containing dextrose and yeast 

 water were also not affected. On the other hand the solutions having the 

 artificial nutrients present and hexoses showed a loss in pentose content after 

 fermentation. The points made in the experiments are that pentoses during 

 fermentation may be utilized for producing new cells when such products as 

 yeast water contains are not present. 



The mannit obtained from asparagus juice, B. Tollens (Jour. Landw., 59 

 (1911), No. Ji, pp. Ji29, JfSO; ahs. in Zentbl. Biochcm. n. Biophys., 13 (1912), No. 

 1-2, p. 6). — Wichers and Tollens in the work previously noted (E. S. R., 24, 

 p. 509) could not obtain mannit in crystalline form from recently pressed juice. 

 They now find that if this juice is allowed to stand for a time small needle- 

 shaped crystals, which have a melting point of 167 to 168° C. and are optically 

 inactive in an aqueous solution but optically active in a borax solution, are 

 obtained. The specific rotation as recorded with the borax solution indicated 

 mannit. 



Studies on oxidizing enzyms, Bernard and Welter (Ann. Jard. Bot. Biiiten- 

 zorg. 2. ser., 10 (1912), pt. 1, pp. 1-58; abs. in Chem. Abs., 6 (1912), No. 9, 

 p. 1162). — Cleansed and sterile sea sand, pulvei'ized glass, powdered pumice, 

 and infusorial earth turn tincture of guaiac blue in the presence of hydrogen 

 peroxid. Gypsum, calcium oxalate, marble dust, and starch also produce a 

 blue color, but it is not so pronounced. Starch gave the weakest reactions. 

 The oxidation of hydroquinone and pyrogallol in the presence of hydrogen 

 peroxid can be accomplished by various substances, but not by traces of iron 

 or manganese. 



