362 EXPERIMENT STATION RECOED. 



use as food by Nola K. Fromme. It is stated that while proso is practically 

 unused in America as a food, in Russia and India it has been so used for some 

 time. The grain may be used whole, ground into a meal, or finely ground into 

 flour. A number of recipes and suggestions for its use in cooking are given. 

 Information is also given regarding the use of kaoliang as food, it being com- 

 pared with grain sorghums. A number of recipes are given, in some of which 

 kaoliang is used in the same way as corn meal or Kafir corn flour. 



The nutritive value of the avocado, M. E. Jaffa (California Sta. Bui. 254 

 (1915), pp. 395-402, figs. 2). — This paper reports the results of the chemical 

 analysis of 28 varieties of the avocado. The approximate composition of the 

 edible portion, constituting 65.7 per cent of the fruit, is as follows : Water, 69.16 

 per cent; protein, 2.08 per cent; fat 20.1 per cent; carbohydrate, 7.39 per cent; 

 and ash, 1.26 per cent. The average energy value found was 984 calories per 

 pound, or more than twice the maximum noted for any other fruit. The 

 amounts of protein and ash found were greater and the amount of carbohydrate 

 about one-half that found in most fresh fruit. The value of the avocado as 

 food is chiefly due to its high fat content, which is greater than that of tlie 

 average olive. It is assumed that the avocado is quite thoroughly digestible. 



Unfermented grape juice, A. McGill (Lab. Inland Rev. Dept. Canada Bui. 

 307 (1915), pp. 19). — This bulletin contains data regarding the inspection of 111 

 samples of unfermented grape juice collected in various parts of Canada. The 

 legal requirements for grape juice are also given. 



The preservation of meat, H. Copaux and A. Kling (Q6nie Civ-il, 66 (1915), 

 No'S. 14, pp. 209-214, figs. 14; 15, pp. 227-230, figs. 3).— In this article, which 

 describes somewhat in detail the process of the manufacture of canned meats 

 for an army camp, the Appert and Billancourt processes are considered. Special 

 attention is given to the methods of preparing meat and the mechanical proc- 

 esses involved in packing it for shipment. 



Bacterial content of desiccated egg, L. S. Ross (Proc. Iowa Acad. Set., 21 

 (1914), pp. 33-49). — ^The results are reported of a bacteriological examination 

 of 66 samples of liquid egg yolk and 76 samples of liquid egg white, as well as 

 248 samples of desiccated eggs which had been stored for varying lengths of 

 time at different temperatures. The author concludes as follows: 



" The desiccated egg loses a large percentage of the bacteria originally present 

 if stored for even a relatively short period. Also the experiment indicates a 

 more rapid diminution if storage is at a higher temperature than at a lower. 

 And it seems possible that u poor product, even one prepared from ' spots ' and 

 worse, might satisfy the ordinary bacterial test of colony counting and gas 

 determination after a period of a few months' storage." 



Cooking fats in South America ( U. S. Dept. Com., Spec. Cons. Rpts., No. 67 

 (1915), pp. 15). — This publication contains information regarding the use of 

 various cooking fats in the different countries of South America. Data are 

 given regarding the quantity and value of such fats imported by the different 

 countries in the years 1912 and 1913 and six months of 1914. 



The use of hardened fats for food purposes, H. Thoms and F. MiJLLER 

 (Arch. Hyg., 84 (1915), No. 1, pp. 54-77). — The authors report a number of 

 chemical and physiological tests of peanut, sesame, and cotton-seed oil. 



In long-continued animal feeding experiments and in tests of one week's 

 duration with men, the availability of the hardened vegetable oils was com- 

 pared with that of some of the more common animal fats and also with the 

 same vegetable oils in the fluid condition. As a result of this work it is recom- 

 mended that a fat should not be hardened to give a melting point of over 37" 

 (body temperature). It was found that, in practically every case, if the digesti- 

 bility of fats melting higher than this was not noticeably different from that of 



