766 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOKD. 



The palm cabbages of Madagascar, H. Jumelle and H. P. de la Bathie 

 {Com.pt. Rend. Acad. Sci. [Paris]. 153 {1912), No. 13, pp. 581-589).— A brief 

 description of several Madagasq^n varieties of palm having edible heads is 

 given. 



Cholera and tomatoes, R. Ricciabdelli {Bol. Chim. Farm., 50 {1911), pp. 

 573-575; abs in Ztschr. Vntersuch. Nahr. u. Genvssmtl., 24 {1912), No. 3, p. 

 250). — ^According to the author, the acid content of tomatoes (0.81 per cent 

 citric acid, with traces of tartaric, malic, and oxalic acids) acts as an in- 

 testinal disinfectant. 



Vegetables and typhoid fever {Brit. Food Jour., IJf {1912), No. 161, p. 83).— 

 Quoting from the Medical Press, experiments are reported in which typhoid 

 bacilli were found on lettuce grown in soil inoculated with the culture 31 

 days before gathering the plants. 



Three consecutive washings in distilled water failed to remove the bacilli 

 entirely. The dangers of using uncooked vegetables and of using human 

 excreta as a fertilizer are emphasized. 



The relatively high dextrose content in certain preserved fruits, Favrel 

 and Gaunieb {Jour. Pharm. et Chim., 7. ser., 4 {1911), No. 6, pp. 253-255; ahs. 

 in Ztschr. Vntersuch. Nahr. ti. Genussmtl., 24 {1912), No. 7, p. -//T^). — Determi- 

 nations of the different sugars in dried apricots and mirabelle plum juice are 

 reported and the results discussed with reference to the preserved fruits. 



Comm.ercial table sirups and molasses, W. Fbear {Penn. Dept. Agr. Bui. 

 224, 1912, pp. 97). — From an extended study, including the examination of a 

 large number of samples of table sirups and molasses on sale in Pennsylvania, 

 a number of general conclusions were drawn, from which the following are 

 quoted : 



" The goods sold as ' maple sirup ' are, with few exceptions, true to name. . . . 

 The sirups labek-d ' maple and cane' or ' cane and maple', usually contain only 

 small proportions of the maple product. There is little sugar cane sirup on 

 the market. 



" The molasses on sale is practically confined to the products of the modern 

 sugar-house. The 'New Orleans molasses' of to-day differs materially in 

 flavor, sugar richness, and probably also in acidity from the older 'open kettle* 

 product formerly sold under that name. The ash limits for table molasses 

 i'.re exceeiled in but few cases, but the organic solids not sugar are, in some 

 cases, so high as to suggest that the molasses in these cases is of very inferior 

 grade. The quantities of sulphur dioxid are usually not high. The presence 

 of tin and zinc in small quantities is common, and, in the latter case, suggests 

 the need for greater care in cleansing before filling the tins in which these 

 goods are usually retailed. 



" The samples of refined molasses submitted were too few to permit any 

 judgment of their average quality as compared with that of the ordinary 

 molasses. 



" The ' corn sirup with cane flavor ' and ' compound molasses ' formed a large 

 fraction of the 'table sirups' on sale. The goods of the former class*fre- 

 quently lack cane flavor, in the literal sense of the term. The proportions of 

 glucose claimed on the labels are rarely exceeded in the goods. As a class, 

 these goods contain more water than should be introduced in the ingredients 

 named. The proi)ortions of sulphur dioxid present are, as a rule, very low, 

 indicating that the glucose now used for these mixtures is practically free from 

 this constituent, which was formerly found in larger amounts. 



" Sulphur dioxid appenrofl, in a few cases, in classes of sirups not covered by 

 the proviso of the food law that tolerates it, within certain limits and under 

 certain conditions, in molasses. 



