1008 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECORD. 



" Except in rare cases the amount of arsenic derived from the soil by the hop 

 plant is probably smaller than 0.01 irrain per pound of dry hojjs, which is the 

 smallest amount regarded as deleterious by the Ivoyal Commission on Arsenical 

 Poisoning in England. * 



" By the use of impure sulphur during the process of curing, hops may be 

 contaminated with arsenic, which will be concentrated in the lower layers on 

 the kiln floor, with the result that certain samples may show an amount greater 

 than 0.01 grain per pound. 



" The in-obability of hops acquiring arsenic from what seems to be a very 

 ready source may be much lessened by employing only the very highest grades 

 of purified sulphur In hop curing^ and the quantity used should l)e reduced to 

 the lowest possible limit." 



Some technical methods of testing miscellaneous supplies, P. H. AValker 

 (Z7. S. Dci)t. Agr., Bar. Chcm. Bui. 100, mt. .'/8)'. — The methods described are 

 those Avhlch have been found useful in the Bureau of Chemistry in the examina- 

 tion of such materials as paints and paint materials, inks, lubricating oils, soaps, 

 glue, glycerin, and other articles purchased by the (Jovernment. In general 

 these methods ha\e been compiled from a variety of sources, and modifications 

 that were found necessary have l)een made. 



Utilization of the by-products of sugar factories and distilleries, L. 

 Lemajre (Eiigrais, 22 {I'.Wl), Nos. .'lO, pp. U.JJ-H.jT ; i,l, pp. DT.I-'JSI ; .'/l, pp. 

 1123-1127). — A'arious processes for extracting potash and ammonia salts and 

 tartar from such by-products are described, as well as the direct uses of some of 

 them as feeding stuffs and fertilizers. 



Poisonous beans called Hungarian beans, Evesque, Verdier, and Bretin 

 (Jour. I'hann. ct Chiiii., 6. .s-c/'., 26 (1907), Xo. 8, pp, 3.',S, J '/J^).— According to the 

 authors' conclusions, morphological and histological. characteristics are not suf- 

 ficient for establishing the nontoxicity of Iteans. The intensity of coloration of 

 picrate of soda paper and the rapidity with which it is produced serves as an 

 indication of the amount of hydrocyanic glucosid present. A method is described 

 for the rapid determination of the glucosid. 



On the determination of ammonia, A. Ronchese (Compt. Rend. 8oc. Biol. 

 [Paris], 62 (1007), Xo. 16, pp. 867-86!); a&.s-, in Bui. Soc. VIrini. France, J,, ser., 3 

 (1908), Xo. 1, pp. .'i2, -'/.?). — The author explains the application of his method, 

 which has already been noted (E. S. R., 19, p. 407), to the examination of 

 ammoniacal salts, urea, and urine and to the determination of total nitrogen 

 and urinary ammonia. 



'Ne'w indirect gravimetric methods for carbon dioxid and nitrogen in 

 nitrates, P. Jannasch (Abs. in Clirni. Zentbl., 1908, I, Xo. J,, pp. JflO, -'ill).— 

 Methods of determining carbon dioxid and nitrogen in nitrates by fusion with 

 sodium tungstate and tungstic acid which drives off these substances are 

 described. The carbon dioxid may be determined either by loss in weight or 

 it may be collected when driven off from the fusion in soda-lime and weighed. 



Note on the Dyer method for the determination of plant food in soils, 

 F. T. Shutt and A. T. Charron (.1?>.s-. in l^ricncc, n. ser., 27 {1908), Xo. 686, p. 

 295). — This is an abstract of a i)aper presented at the Chicago meeting of the 

 American Chemical Society in which the authors reported results of studies of 

 the influence of time of digestion and volume of solution in the Dyer method. 

 The results indicate no reason for departing from the time and volume limits 

 given by Dyer in his original account of the method. 



On free humus acids in upland moor soils and their determination, A. Bau- 

 MANN and E. Gully (Xatunc. Ztschr. Forst ii. Landw., 6 (1908), Xo. 1, pp. 

 1-6). — The nature and importance of humus acids in moor soils are briefly 



