524 EXrEEIMENT STATION RECORD. 



ter in the LTnitcd States. The average was as follows: Water (by 

 direct determination), U.U per cent; fat, 82.05; curd, 1.47, and ash, 

 2.85; Reichert-Meissl num])er 29.15. refractive index 1.1008, Crismer 

 value 19.05, Valenta value 11.6, acidity 0.57, and iodin number 86.78. 

 The usual tests applied for renovated butter are polarized light, boil- 

 in o- in open vessels, and the Waterhouse tests, but each of these tests 

 failed in one or more cases on the above samples. A study was made 

 of the changes in the fat during the manufacture of renovated l)utter 

 to determine whether any change was produced in the oil which might 

 serve as a means of detection. There w^as no decided change in the 

 character of the fat after blowing or renovating. The greatest dif- 

 ference was found in the Reichert-Meissl value, but this was not regu- 

 lar. The speaker concluded that for the present physical tests must 

 be relied upon for detecting renovated butter. 



The same author also presented a paper on the Composition of 

 Spirits Produced from Grain and the Changes Undergone by the Same 

 when Stored in Wooden Packages, the work reported being a study 

 which has been in progress for a number of years, with reference to 

 the fixing of standards and the detection of added coloring matters. 



In a paper on Solubility Curves for Magnesium Carbonate in Aque- 

 ous Solutions of Sodium Chlorld, Sodium Sulphate, and Sodium Car- 

 bonate, F. K. Cameron and Atherton Seidell reported a contiiuiation 

 of their studies of the theory of solution as applied to soils, especially 

 the formation and transportation of alkali in soils (E. S. R., 13, p. 927). 

 These have given valuable results in pointing out a satisfactory chemical 

 classification of alkali, giving a clearer insight into alkali phenomena, 

 and explaining the efi'ects of certain methods of treatment of soils. 



O. Schreiner described A Method for the Colorimetric Determina- 

 tion of Phosphates and Silicates when Both are Present, which he 

 claimed is especially applicable to waters, soil solutions, and plant 

 solutions. The method is based upon the comparison of the coloration 

 produced when ammonium molybdate and nitric acid are added to 

 unknown solutions containing phosphates and silicates, with that pro- 

 duced when standard solutions are so treated. The method of pro- 

 cedure consists in adding to one of two equal portions of the solution 

 to be tested the ammonium molybdate and nitric acid simultaneously, 

 to the other ammonium molybdate first and the nitric acid one-half 

 hour afterwards. It is claimed that the coloration produced in the 

 second case by the silicates which may be present is just about one 

 half that produced in the first case. From this equations are derived 

 which furnish a ready means of calculating the relative proportions 

 of phosphates and silicates present. 



In a paper by J. H. Long on The Relation of the Specific Gravity 

 of Urine to the Solids Present, it was pointed out that the important 

 thing in urine analvsis is not the total solids but the solids of metabo- 



