466 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



F. Nobbe reported on the valaatiou of sugar and fodder beet seed, 

 aud the following coiiclusious of the section on seed testing were 

 adopted : 



(1) The distinction between large and small seed bolls is given up. 



(2) One gram of bolls must produce at least 50 plantlets. 



(3) Seventy-five out of every 1<*0 bolls must germinate in 14 days. 



(4) Foreign constituents must not exceed 3 per cent and the water 

 content 15 per cent, although beet seed containing as high as 17 per 

 cent of water may bo furnished subject to a corresponding indemnity, 



A detailed description of methods for seed testing is given by F. 

 Nobbe iu an appendix to the report. 



Concerning a new class of compounds of albuminoid bodies, F. Blum {Ztschr. 

 physiol. Chem., 22 {1896), Xo. 2, jip. 127-131). 



A contribution to the chemical and botanical study of gums, L. C. Lutz 

 (Thesis, rarl-< : 1S95 ; abs. in Bot. Centhl. Beihe/te, G (1396), Xo. 5, pp. 368, 369). 



The quantitative cleavage of albumen by hydrochloric acid, R. Coiix (Ztsclir. 

 pliys'wl. (.'hem., 23 (1896), Xo. 2, pp. 1.'j3-175). — Discovery of a pyridiii derivative. 



The behavior cf casein toAvard pepsin-hydrochloric acid, E. Salkowski (^rcA. 

 Physiol, 63 (1896), p. 401; ahs. in Chem. Ztfj., 20 (1896), Xo. 78, Bepert., p. 24.5).— A. 

 contiuiiation of studies on the exact conditious under which casein is completely 

 dissolved by pepsin-hydrochloric acid. 



The determination of phosphorus in the ashes of coal and of coke, L. Camp- 

 REDON (Compi. Bend. .123 (1896), Xo. 23, pp. 1000-1003).— It in shown that fiisiou with 

 alkaline carbonates is the only reliable method of obtaining all the phosphoric acid 

 in solution. 



The quantitative determination of salicylic acid, F. Freyeu (Chem. Ztg., 20 

 (1896), Xo. S3, p. 820). 



The physical methods of butter examination, N. Wendeu (Ztschr. Xahr. Unter- 

 SHch. undHyij. Waar., 10, pp. 46-49: ahs. in Chem. Cenfhl., 1896, I, Xo. 15, p. 830). 



Determination of the specific gravity of curdled milk. M. Kuhn (Chem. Ztg., 

 20 (1896), Xo. 73, pit. 708-710). 



Compendium for food chemists. Vol. 5 : The chemistry and physiology of 

 malt and beer, E. Priou (Bihliothek filr Xahrunf/smittelchemiker. Bd. 5. Chemie und 

 Physiologic des Maizes und Bieres. Leipzig : J. A. Barth). 



BOTANY. 



The occurrence of arginin in the roots and tubers of some 

 plants, E. ScHULZE {Landw. Vers. Stat., 40 [1890), Xo. 6, pp. 451-458). — 

 Arginin is a highly nitrogenous substance, C6H14K4O2, discovered by 

 the author in the etiolated seedlings of lu])ine, aud also found by 

 G. S. Hedin' among the products of the cleavage of protein by acids. 

 The autlior now finds this substance iu the tubers of rutabagas and 

 Jerusalem artichokes and the roots of Ptelea frifoliata. The examina- 

 tion was made in the spring, the roots having been kept iu the ground 

 over winter. Four kilograms of ruta-bagas, containing about 500 gm. 

 of dry matter, yielded only 0.9 gm. of arginin, showing that the amount 

 of this substance is small. It was accompanied by glutamin, asparagin, 

 and ty rosin. In the Jer usalem artichoke and the roots of P/^/ea trifoliata 



1 ztschr. physiol. Chem., 20, p. 186. 



