412 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



standards and special methods of detecting formic aldehyde and borax 

 and boracic acid in milk. The reporter recommended that a section of 

 the methods for dairy products be devoted to adulteration. 



LIQUORS AND FOOD ADULTERATION. 



The report of W. D. Bigelow on this subject discussed chiefly the 

 adulteration of canned goods, spices, condiments, etc., and gave com- 

 piled methods for examining flour, bread, mustard, pepper, cayenne, 

 ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, mace, cream of tartar, bak- 

 ing powder, vinegar, canned goods, wine, beer, and cider, with a sep- 

 arate chapter on the detection of preservatives. The recommendations 

 of the reporter regarding methods and standards were referred to a 

 committee of five, as follows: H. W. Wiley, H. A. Weber, M, A. Sco- 

 veil, E. H. Jenkins, W. Frear. 



SUGAR. 



No report was submitted on this subject. H. W. Wiley stated that 

 as far as he had observed the methods for sugar had proved satisfac- 

 tory and needed little alteration. He called attention to the report on 

 polarization by Wiley, Braid, and Crampton to the Treasury Depart- 

 ment in connection with the fixing of the duty on sugars. He advised 

 official chemists to have their polarization apparatus, etc., standardized 

 by the Office of Weights and Measures of the U. S. Coast and Geo- 

 detic Survey. This will be done for such chemists free of charge. 



TANNIN. 



The report on tannin was submitted by J. H. Yocum, associate 

 reporter. It gave the results of comparative tests by 5 analysts on 

 different tannin extracts by official methods for tannin outlined by the 

 reporter. As a result of the work a modification and revision of the 

 methods, recommended by the reporter, was adopted by the Association. 



A paper on the preparation of tannin extracts for analysis was pre- 

 sented by R. H. Forbes. In this it is shown that the official method 

 for preparing extracts is not accurate. Percolation methods, modified 

 for different substances, are recommended. 



REPORT OF ABSTRACT COMMITTEE. 



E. W. Allen submitted a brief report on the work of abstracting cur- 

 rent literature relating to methods of analysis during the past year. 

 The amount of work accomplished was fully equal to that done the 

 preceding year, the published abstracts covering about 75 pages of the 

 Experiment Station Record. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



A report on volumetric standards was presented by B. W. Kilgore. 

 This report explained the various systems used, urged the desirability 

 of a uniform system, noted the progress which has been made in 



