508 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



and similar to the body which has been called cerebriu for which the uaiiie 

 " ovin " is proposed. 



Milk coagulating' agents in the juice of the Chinese mulberry, C. Gerber 

 iComi)t. Rend. Acad. Sci. [Paris], l',o (1907), No. 12, pi). .530-532).— The author 

 found from experiments that there exists in the juice of the Chinese mulberry 

 (Broussonetia papyrifera) an activating substance without which the coag- 

 ulating diastase is incapable of causing curdling of milk. The action of these 

 two substances resembles that of alexin and its sensitizing agent in hemolytic 

 serums and bactericides, or that of trypsin and kinase in the intestinal juice. 



The structure of the starch, grain, II. H. Kraemer (Amcr. Jour. Pharm., 

 79 {1907), No. 9, pp. Jfl2--'fl8). — By the treatment of definite amounts of starch 

 with definite quantities of iodin solution it may be sho^\-n that the amount of 

 soluble starch varies in starch grains of different origin. 



In summing up the observations on the behavior of iodin and starch, the 

 author states : '" That we are dealing with a chemical compound of iodin and 

 soluble starch ; but that the combination is a feeble one, being easily dissociated 

 upon the application of heat, and the iodin being more or less volatilized. Also 

 the facility with which soluble starch takes up the iodin in a chloroformic so- 

 lution indicates that the affinity of starch for iodin is considerably greater than 

 heretofore supposed." 



A method of staining starch is described in which an aqueous solution of iodin 

 and gentian violet is used. The method is especially adapted to wheat starch 

 and corn starch, but in the case of potato and maranta starches weaker iodin 

 solutions are necessary and for these two starches the method is not entirely 

 satisfactory. Earlier work has been noted (E. S. R., 19, p. 259). 



On some applications of safranin as a test for carbohydrates, H. MacLean 

 (Bio-Chem. Jour., 2 (1907), No. 9, pp. Ji31-.'f'/2). — The experimental data re- 

 ported are favorable to the use of safranin. 



" Safranin is a general test for carbohydrate bodies of a certain type, and is 

 one of the most suitable reagents for determining the presence of traces of 

 carbohydrates in liquids; it is unaffected by all the ordinary 'interfering' 

 substances of urine except those of a carbohydrate nature. 



" Safranin is not decolorized by albumin after long boiling, but the presence 

 of albumin in the liquid to be tested interferes with the delicacy of the re- 

 action ; ammonia in excess acts in a somewhat similar manner. 



" In digestion experiments the amount of starch changed can be compara- 

 tively easily obtained, while the differences in the carbohydrate contents of 

 urine or blood, after standing for some time, as the result of glycolytic action, 

 can be easily and fairly accurately determined. . . . 



" The [reported data] indicate the uses of safranin for solutions containing 

 small amounts of carbohydrate, and while the reagent possesses certain dis- 

 advantages with regard to its use as a routine test for the examination of urine 

 in unskilled hands, it often proves exceedingly useful for the detection of 

 traces, especially when combined with yeast fermentation." 



Colorimetric determination of the albumin contents of barley, with. Mil- 

 Ion's reagent, C. J. Lintner {Breioers' Jour., 31 (1907), No. 12, p. 553). — A 

 modification of Millon's reagent is described, which, according to the author, 

 gives satisfactory results in determining the albumin content of barley. 



Determination of the starch contents of barley by polarization, C. J. 

 Lintner (Brewers' Jour., 31 (1907). No. 12, pp. 555, 556). — The report of data 

 show that the starch content decreases as the protein content mcreases and this 

 relation, according to the author, seems to be more clearly expressed " by the 

 figures obtained with the polarization method than by those obtained from the 

 methods of steaming." 



