298 EXPEEIMENT STATION RECORD. 



The associate referee on spices, R. W. Hilts, after reviewing the status of 

 methods' for catsup examination recommended tliat final action regarding the 

 lactic acid and citric acid methods be withheld pending further study and the 

 collection of data, and that methods for determining insoluble solids and sand as 

 applied to tomato catsup (U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Chem. Bui. 162, pp. 128, 129) 

 be adopted as provisional. These recommendations were adopted. 



R. E. Remington, associate referee, reported on cooperative work in the 

 determination of lead in baking powders, particularly the alum phosphate type, 

 and dwelt principally on the simplification and improvement of existing 

 methods. E. L. P. Trenthardt, associate referee on heavy metals in foods, 

 reported on determining arsenic and tin. 



The cooperative work on fats and oils, presented by the associate referee, 

 R. H. Kerr, consisted of a comparison of his own method (E. S. R., 29, p. 204) 

 for the detection of phytosterol in mixtures of animal and vegetable fats, with 

 the digitonin method of Marcusson and Schilling. Each method led to uni- 

 formly correct conclusions, and both were adopted as provisional methods. 



J. Ilortvet, associate referee on dairy products, reported a further study of 

 the modifications of the continuous extraction method for determining fat in 

 evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and cream, and comparative fat 

 determinations by the Rose-Gottlieb method. In the main the results obtained 

 by the continuous extraction method, both with sweetened condensed and 

 unsweetened evaporated milk, were lower than by the Rose-Gottlieb method, but 

 a special investigation of the details of the various methods for determining fat 

 pei'centages in condensed and evaporated milk was deemed imperative. G. E. 

 Patrick, in discussing the Rose-Gottlieb method, stated that when it is modified 

 and acid treatment after the usual extraction process is resorted to higher 

 results are obtainable. This was concurred in by F. F. Fitzgerald and W. D. 

 Bigelow. The method proposed in 1911 as applied to milk, evaporated milk, 

 sweetened condensed milk, thin cream, and ice cream, is to be further studied, 

 and special attention is to be given to the Rose-Gottlieb method along the lines 

 suggested. C. M. Bradbury read a paper on the alkali method for the deter- 

 mination of fat in ice cream and condensed milk. 



F. L. Shannon, associate referee on saccharine products, gave a report of a 

 study of the Fiehe method and its modifications for the detection of added 

 invert sugar in honey. The only advantage apparently gained by any of the 

 modifications of Fiehe's test seems to be in the keeping quality of the reagent. 



E. W. Magruder, associate referee on vegetables and canned goods, and J. B. 

 Robb reported on a detailed study of the separable fluid of canned goods (toma- 

 toes, green peas, and Lima beans). The studies are to be continued on the 

 same lines as recommended by the referee in 1913. A. Yiehoever gave an 

 account of the characteristics of common and Lima beans. 



Analyses of some commercial cocoas were reported by H. C. Lythgoe, asso- 

 ciate referee. The Ulrich method for cocoa shells (E. S. R., 30, p. 413) has 

 apparently no advantages over the fiber and pentose determination methods. 

 The Baier-Neumann method for determining casein in milk chocolate should be 

 further studied since ob.iections have been raised against it on the grounds that 

 it will not detect the casein rendered insoluble in chocolates by different methods 

 of manufacture. The association voted to study the effects of high temperature 

 used in the process of manufacture on the casein determination, and also to 

 study the methods for crude starch in cocoa. 



The associate referee on tea and coffee, J. M. Bartlett, gave a report on 

 methods for determining caffein. 



A. F. Seeker, associate referee on preservatives, gave the i-esults of a further 

 study of the Fincke method (E. S. R., 26, p. 312) for the determination of 



