804 BXPEKIMENT STATION" EECOED. 



The gnin produced by the gum-producing bacterium is considered levnian. 

 Upon hydrolysis with an acid, tliis compound yields a substance which reduces 

 Fehling's solution, and the figures obtained correspond to those given by 

 levulose. See also a previous note by Owen (E. S. R., 25, p. 110). 



Phosphorus compounds of cotton-seed meal and wheat bran, J. B. Ratheb 

 {Texas Sta. Bui. 156, pp. 3-18). — This continues work noted in a previous bulle- 

 tin (E. S. R., 27, p. 611), in which it was pointed out that the phosphorus 

 compounds of cotton-seed meal were nearly all organic in nature and further- 

 more that cotton-seed meal does not contain meta- or pyrophosphoric acid. 



Inasmuch as the inorganic bases could not be removed completely by the 

 Patten and Hart method (E. S. R., 16, p. 18), any formula based on a prepara- 

 tion obtained by this or a similar method is deemed open to question. In 

 addition, attention is called to the fact that very few of the investigators work- 

 ing on this problem have made any attempt to determine whether or not the 

 phytin under examination was a homogeneous preparation. 



In the present investigation a modification of the modified Patten and Hart 

 method was used, as follows : " Two kg. of cotton-seed meal was digested with 

 8,000 cc. 0.2 per cent hydrochloric acid for 3 hours with frequent shaking. 

 The extract was strained through cheesecloth and the residue washed well 

 with water. The residue was digested with 8,000 cc. 0.2 per cent ammonia 

 for 3 hours with frequent shaldng and allowed to settle, and washed with 

 water by dec-antation. Copper acetate was added to the acid extract of the 

 cotton-seed meal in sufiicient quantity to precipitate most of the phosphorus 

 compounds, the precipitate was washe<l well with water, decomposed with 

 hydrogen sulphid, filtered, and evaporated to a sirupy consistency. 



" The product was dissolved in a small amount of water and about 10 times 

 the volume of ammonia added. The mixture was allowed to stand over night. 

 The precipitate was filtered off. The filtrate from the precipitation with" 

 ammonia was evaporated on the water bath to remove the ammonia and taken 

 up with iwater. Barium chlorid was added and the resulting precipitate was 

 filtered and washed with water. The barium salts were decomposed with 

 sulphuric acid and filtered. The filtrate was again made alkaline and precipi- 

 tated with barium chlorid. This process was repeated 2 or 3 times and the acid 

 finally precipitated with copper acetate in acid solution, the copper salt decom- 

 posed with hydrogen sulphid, filtered, and evaporated to a small volume. A 

 large volume of alcohol was then added and the resulting precipitate filtered 

 off. The alcohol was evaporated from the filtrate and the product taken up 

 in a small volume of water. The ammonia extract of the cotton-seed meal 

 was made acid with hydrochloric acid, the precipitate allowed to settle, and 

 the liquid decanted through a filter. This extract was precipitated with copper 

 acetate, ammonia, barium chlorid, and alcohol exactly as described for the acid 

 extract. In the examination of the wheat bran, the ammonia extraction of the 

 feed was omitted." 



" The purpose of the precipitation with ammonia and vrith alcohol was to 

 remove inorganic phosphorus and inorganic bases. It was found by analysis 

 that this result was accomplished." 



The product obtained with the modified method was very low in iron, cal- 

 cium, and aluminum phosiDhates and was apparently homogeneous. The silver 

 salts obtained from the acid and ammonia extracts of cotton-seed meal and 

 from the acid extract of wheat bran were found to be free from pentosans 

 and nitrogen, and the analytical figure showed the formula of the free acid to 

 correspond to CijH«Pi.042. " These results are not in accord with the conclu- 

 sions of Patten and Hart [E, S. R., 16, p. 18], who claim that wheat bran con- 



