AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY-=-AGROTECHNY. 409 



witli the Kossel niothod wore obtained wlioii the lysin phosphotimgstate was 

 dissolved in ammonia and the solution diluted to a large volume before treating 

 with barium hydrate. 



Oxyproteic acids, P. Glagolew {Hoppe-Scylcr's Ztschr. PhysM. Chcm., 89 

 (191-'f), No. 6, pp. J,S2-U0; abs. in Jour. Chcm. Soc. [London], lOG (1914), No. 

 621, I, p. SS5). — These substances, having the nature of polypoptids, possess a 

 definite number of amino groups which increases on hydrolysis. The amino 

 acid nitrogen when estimated by Van Slyke's method (E. S. R., 26, p. 22) 

 amounts to 44.3 per cent of the total nitrogen. Most of the nitrogenous sub- 

 stances, 'viz, 80 per cent, obtained on hydrolysis of oxy- or alloxyproteic acid 

 were not precipitated by phosphotungstic acid. Both of the acids contained 

 cystin and arginin. Hydrolyzing with 25 per cent of hydrofluoric acid (E. S. R., 

 22. p. 301) prevents the formation of melanins, and ammonia production is less 

 than when 20 per cent of boiling hydrochloric acid is employed. 



Oils of the Coniferee. — III, The leaf and twig and the cone oils of western 

 yellow pine and sugar pine, A. AV. Schorgee (Jour. Indus, and Engin. Chcm., 

 6 (1914), No. 11, pp. 893-S95). — In western yellow pine the percentage composi- 

 tion of the leaf and twig and the cone oils, respectively, is approximately as 

 follows : Furfurol ? per cent and trace ; ?-pinene 2 and 6 per cent ; ^pinene 75 

 and 60 per cent; dipeutene 6 and 12.5 per cent; ester as bornyl acetate 2 and 

 2.5 per cent; free alcohol (^-borneol) 7 and 4 per cent; "green oil" 3 and 3.5 

 per cent ; and undetermined material 5 and 10 per cent. In sugar pine the leaf 

 and twig and the cone oils contain, respectively, furfurol in trace; Z-pinene 21 

 and 22 per cent ; Z-camphene ? and 21 per cent ; Z-pinene 51 and 39.5 per cent ; 

 dipentene 12 and 4.5 per cent; ester as bornyl acetate 1.5 and 1.5 per cent; free 

 alcohol (Z-borneol) 8 and 3.5 per cent; " green oil" 1 and ? per cent; ses- 

 quiterpene (?) ? and 1 per cent; and undetermined material 7 and 7 per cent. 



Oils of the Coniferse. — IV, The leaf and twig oils of digger pine, lodge- 

 pole pine, and red fir, A. W. Schorgee (Jour. Indus, and Engin. Chem., 7 

 {1915), No. 1, pp. 24-26). — The constituents found in the leaf and twig oils of 

 digger pine, lodgepole pine, and red fir, are, approximately, as follows: Furfu- 

 rol, per cent, trace, and trace, respectively : 7r-heptane, 3, per cent, and per 

 cent; t-a-pinene, 58 to 59 per cent, 3, and ? per cent; t-camphene, per cent, 5 to 

 6 per cent, and per cent ; t-|3-pinene, per cent, 49 to 50 per cent, 16 to 18 per 

 cent; t-limonene, 18.0 per cent, and per cent; bornyl ester (as acetate) 3.5, 2, 

 and 3.5 per cent; free alcohol (as t-borneol), 6, 7.5, and 7.5 per cent; methyl- 

 chavicol, ? per cent, ? per cent, and per cent ; " green oil," 2 to 3 per cent, 

 per cent, 13 per cent; cadinene, per cent, 7, and per cent; and losses by 

 polymerization, etc., 9.5, 6, and 6 per cent. The dipentene and t-phellandrene 

 were determined together in lodgepole pine and amounted to 19 per cent; the 

 dipentene and t-phellandrene content of red fir and digger pine leaf and twig oils 

 were and 52 per cent, respectively. 



Contribution to our knowledge of the oxidation ferments of plants, O. 

 Begem ANN (Ztschr. Allg. Physiol., 16 (1914), ^o. 3-4, pp. 352-358).— This inves- 

 tigation deals with oxidase, peroxidase, catalase, and reductase. 



Existing qualitative and quantitative methods for determining the activity of 

 oxidase were studied, but aside from Chodat and Bach's method for peroxidase, 

 in which the purpurogallin is weighed, no method, according to the author's 

 knowledge, is available for the purpose. Two new colorimetric methods in 

 which the benzidin reaction is the basis are presented. 



Reductase was studied qualitatively and quantitatively with methylene blue. 



The questions especially studied were the distribution and the quantitative 

 location of the ferments in plants. Oxidizing ferments were found widely dis- 

 tributed, but the quantities present differed markedly. Numerous sections of 



