1918] AGBICULTUEAL CHEMISTRY AGROTECHNY. 11 



The determination of phytin phosphorus in plant products, J. B. Ratheb 

 (Arkansas Sta. Bui. 1S5 (1917), pp. 3-15; abs. in Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 39 

 (1917), No. 11, pp. 2506-2515).— The author has found that the ferric chlorid 

 titration method of Heubner and Stadler (E. S. R., 34, p, 10) for the deter- 

 mination of phytin phosphorus in pharmaceutical products is applicable to 

 plant products with some slight modifications which the nature of the materials 

 demands. The method, however, does not appear to yield satisfactory results 

 with dried forage plants. 



" The ratio of iron to phosphorus In determinations of phytin phosphorus 

 as ascertained by titrations of purified salts of inosit pentaphosphoric add 

 obtained from Kafir corn, cottonseed meal, wheat bran, corn, rice bran, and 

 rice polish, was found to average 1.207. Heptaferric inosit pentaphosphate 

 would have the ratio 1.191." 



Of the plant products examined, wheat bran, rice polish, cottonseed meal, 

 wheat shorts, and rice bran were found to contain the largest amounts of 

 phytin phosphorus, wMle the smallest amounts were found in corn, oats, soy 

 bean, clover seed, and Kafir corn. The phytin phosphorus in the plant products 

 examined constituted on an average 73 per cent of the total phosphorus and 

 86 per cent of the 1.2 per cent hydrochloric-acid-soluble phosphorus. 



The bacteriological examination of food and water, W. G. Savage (Cam- 

 bridge, England: University Press, 1916, 2. ed., pp. X+200, figs. 16). — This Is 

 the second edition of the work previously noted (E. S. R., 32, p. 311). The 

 new edition contains an addendum in which the recent advances and new 

 methods which facilitate the examination of food and water are summarized. 



A method for the determination of the volatile oil content of citrus fruits, 

 G. P. Wilson and C. O. Young (Jour. Indus, and Engin. Chem., 9 (1917), No. 

 10, pp. 959-961, fig. 1). — The extraction methods for the determination of the 

 volatile oil in citrus fruits not having been found to be very satisfactory, the 

 authors modified the steam distillation method and found it to be the most 

 practical procedure thus far developed. A special calibrated receiving flask 

 similar to a Babcock milk test bottle, the body having a capacity of 200 cc. and 

 the neck of 2 cc, the latter graduated in 0.1 cc, was designed and is described. 

 The weight of the oil is calculated by the formula 



VX 0.849X0.996. 

 V being equal to the volume of the oU collected, 0.849 being the average specific 

 gravity of California lemon oil, and 0.996 a correction factor for determinationa 

 made at 25° C in the air. For rapid and reasonably accurate work the weight 

 of the oil may be obtained by multiplying the volume obtained in the distilla- 

 tion by 0.846. 



Determination of sugar in baked articles (Jour. Soc. Chem. Indu^., 36 

 (1917), No. 15, pp. 856, 857). — Procedures for the preparation of the sample 

 and the determination of moisture in biscuits, large cakes, buns, small cakes, 

 and articles containing fruit (raisins, currants, dates, etc) in which sugar 

 naturally occurs, agreed to at a conference between the Government chemist 

 and representatives of the Society of Public Analysts and of the biscuit manu- 

 facturers of Great Britain, are submitted. 



Detection of added water in milk by means of a simplified molecular con- 

 centration constant, L. W. Feebis (Jour. Indus, and Engin. Chem., 9 (1917), 

 No. 10, pp. 957-959, fig. 1). — Thirty-one samples of milk were analyzed whldi 

 showed values for the molecular concentration to be between 71.1 and 82.6 as 

 calculated by the method of Mathieu and Ferrg (E. S. R., 33, p. 208). The de- 

 yelopment of acidity in the milk was found to have the same effect upon the 

 molecular concentration constant as the addition of water. The use of for- 



