1918] AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY AGROTECHNY. 411 



It was fouud that the che.stuuts possess considerable diastatic activity. An 

 examination of the diastase showed that it resembled that of an ungerminated 

 cereal in its action. No evidence of a similar diastase in acorns could be ob- 

 tained. 



The possible utilization of chestnuts and acorns as a source of alcohol was 

 studied. The ground nuts were boiled with 2 per cent sulphuric acid under 

 a reflux condenser for three hours, filtered, and the filtrate neutralized. The 

 solution of sugar was then fermented for three or four days with brewer's yeast. 

 A yield of alcohol of 27 and 27.3 per cent for the dry peeled kernel and 11.6 

 and 11.5 per cent for nuts as picked was obtained from two samples of chest- 

 nuts. The corresponding yields for two samples of acorns were 26.1 and 27.5 

 per cent for dry-peeled kernel and 12 and 12.7 per cent for nuts as picked. 

 This is equivalent to a yield of from 32 to 86 gal. of absolute alcohol per ton of 

 the nuts as picked. 



Division of chemistry, annual report, 1915-16, B. ue C Maechand {Union 

 So. Africa Dept. Ayr. Rpt. 1916, pp. 105-108). — This includes analyses of soils, 

 manures and other fertilizers, feeding stuffs, and brine salts. 



A simple and eificient filtering tube, W. M. Thornton, jk. {Jour. Indus, and 

 Engin. Chern., 10 {1918), No. 2, p. 132, fig. 1). — The author describes a simple 

 device for filtering with the least possible volume of the liquid used for trans- 

 ferring and washing the precipitate. Filtration may be very quickly per- 

 formed, thus reducing the losses incurred in handling precipitates which in- 

 crease in solubility on rise of temi)erature. 



The utilization of the adsorptive power of fuller's earth for chemical sepa- 

 rations, A. Seidell {Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, JfO {1918), No. 1, pp. 312-328, figs. 

 2). — In view of the practical application of the utilization of fuller's earth in 

 the separation of alkaloids from plants and " vitamins " from mixtures in 

 which they occur (E. S. R., 85, p. 472), the author has conducted a series 

 of investigations on the adsorptive power of fuller's earth from different sources 

 and the effects on the adsorptive process of such factors as time, agitation, 

 dilution, presence of other dissolved substances, etc. Methods of procedure and 

 analytical data in the form of tables and charts are given. The materials used 

 for adsorption were quinin bisulphate and methylene blue. 



A comparison of the adsorptive capacities Of 36 samples of fuller's earths 

 and other clays showed that English earth is super ioj^- to any of the domestic 

 fuller's earths except one, the exact source of which could not be learned. 

 Bentonite, which has a greater adsorptive power than the English fuller's 

 earths, can not be used to advantage on account of its unusual capacity for 

 retaining water. From the experimental data the author concludes that " the 

 adsoriftive power of fuller's earth is exerted particularly toward certain com- 

 pounds, characterized by distinct basicity, and that in the case of salts only the 

 base unites with the fuller's earth. No marked selectivity was fouud in the case 

 of the two compounds forming the basis of the present experiments. The 

 amount adsorbed in a given time is a function of ratio of earth to adsorbable 

 material and, except with insufficient earth for complete adsorption, is inde- 

 pendent of dilution, acidity, or presence of nonadsorbable neutral material." 

 Treatment of corks used in Soxhlet and other extraction apparatus, T. J. 

 Wabd {Analyst, ^2 {1917), No. h99, pp. 326, 327).— A method is described for 

 treating corks to be used in Soxhlet and other extraction apparatus to overcome 

 errors arising from the porosity of cork and the solubility of certain constit- 

 uents of the cork in the extraction solvent. The corks are heated for two 

 hours on a boiling water bath in a solution of gelatin (previously soaked in 

 cold water for five or six hours and then melted) in one-quarter volume of 



