12 EXPERIMENT STATION EECORD. 



and with 0.5 per cent hydrochloric acid there is practically no hydrolysis 

 of the organic phosphorus. The enzym is destroyed by boiling water and by 

 boiling 0.2 per cent hydrochloric acid. It is also destroyed by a short exposure 

 to 0.5 per cent hydrochloric acid and to 0.25 per cent ammonia. It is shown 

 that wheat bran normally contains about 0.1 per cent of inorganic phosphorus, 

 which is equal to about 11 per cent of the total soluble phosphorus. 



" By digesting wheat bran in 1 per cent hydrochloric acid, which is sufficiently 

 strong to destroy the enzym phytase, it is possible to isolate from the extract 

 crystalline barium salts of the following composition : 



CeHisOziPeBaa+SHoO and (CcH„024Po)2Ba7+14H»0. 



These salts are identical with the tribarium phytate and heptabarium phy- 

 tate obtained from oats, corn, cotton-seed meal, and commercial phytin. All of 

 these materials contain, therefore, the same organic phosphorus compound, viz, 

 phytic acid or inosit hexaphosphoric acid, CoHis024Pe." 



A proposed modification of the Kober method for quantitative ammonia 

 distillation by aeration, F. L. Dillingham (Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 36 (1914), 

 No. 6, pp. 1310-1312). — The A'alue of the Kober and Graves method" for deter- 

 mining ammonia was studied with ammonium sulphate. As a pump drawing 

 only 360 liters of air per hour was available, more aeration, as recommended by 

 the originators of the method, was used. "A large number of determinations 

 were made, and in no case could all the ammonia be recovered by this method 

 of aeration. In each case quantities of ammonia varying, in round numbers, 

 from 3 to 15 per cent were found to be retained in the residual liquid in the 

 Kjeldahl flask. . . . 



"This failure to recover all of the ammonia, by aeration alone, suggested a 

 modification of the method, which has been carefully tried out and which it is 

 desired to offer. The modification consists in utilizing the heat of neutraliza- 

 tion and in heating the liquid in the Kjeldahl flask over a low flame during the 

 entire period of aeration. Pieces of zinc may be added to prevent bumping. It 

 is well also to use a larger amount of water than the original method calls for. 

 The outlet tube of the Kjeldahl flask should be provided with a glass trap to 

 prevent carrying over of the sodium hydroxid. This modification will allow all 

 of the ammonia to be recovered from ammonia sulphate in one and one-half 

 hours. The liquid in the absorption bottle naturally becomes quite hot from 

 the steam, but no loss of ammonia occurs, provided the standard acid is present 

 in excess. When the absorption of ammonia is complete the absorption bottle 

 may be cooled and the excess of standard acid titrated in the usual manner." 



A substitute for potassium permang'anate to liberate formaldehyde gas 

 from a water solution, S. G. Dixon {Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc, 63 (1914), No. 12, 

 p. 1025). — The substitute proposed is sodium dichromate. The formaldehyde 

 is mixed with sulphuric acid and kept as a stock solution. 



A procedure for separating organic ammoniates from the mineral portion 

 of commercial fertilizers, C. H. Jones and G. F. Anderson (Jour. Indus, and 

 Engin. Chem., 6 (1914), No. 7, pp. 580, 581).— The method consists of drying 

 from 100 to 600 gm. of materials, preferably unground, at a temperature of not 

 over 170° F., cooling and weighing, and dropping the sample in 25 to 50 gm. 

 portions into a beaker nearly filled with carbon tetrachlorid. The mixture is 

 then stirred, allowed to settle, the portion which floats skimmed off with an 

 ordinary tablespoon, and the floats placed on a dry filter. The process is con- 

 tinued until the entire sample has been treated, using another beaker if neces- 



"Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, S5 (1913), p. 1594. 



