RECENT WORK IN AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE. 



CHEMISTRY. 



The oil of corn, C. G. Hopkins (Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 20 (1898), 

 No. 12, pp. 948-961). — The author reports a systematic study of corn oil 

 obtained partly by extraction and partly from starch and glucose fac- 

 tories. Determinations were made of the specific gravity, melting 

 point, iodin absorption, and oxygen absorption of the oil and of the 

 content of lecithin, cholesterol, total fatty acids, volatile acids, and the 

 separate fatty acids. The method of operation is described in each 

 case. The total fatty acids were found to constitute 93.57 per cent of 

 the. oil. A summary of the composition of corn oil, as found in this 

 investigation, is as follows: 



Composition of corn oil. 



Per cent. 



Cholesterol 1.37 



Lecithin 1. 49 



Stearin ( ?) 3. 66 



Olein 44. 85 



Linolin 48.19 



Total 99. 56 



It was found that corn oil does not take up any oxygen at room 

 temperature, but when heated in a water oven changes in weight 

 were noticed which have an important bearing on the determination of 

 water in corn. 



"The first action of air upon the hot oil is evidently the direct addi- 

 tion of oxygen; but after 2 or 3 days the oil began to turn noticeably 

 darker in color and finally to lose weight, evidently due to a secondary 

 reaction which effects some decomposition of the oil with formation of 

 volatile products." 



Proceedings of the eleventh convention of the Association of 

 Agricultural Experiment Stations in the German Empire (Landw. 

 Vers. Stat., 51 (1898), No. 1, pp. 15-41).— This reports, among other 

 things, the action of the association on methods of analysis of Thomas 

 slag and of examining seeds, and includes discussions on the prepara- 

 tory training of station assistants, the allowable amount of perchlorate 



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