RECENT WORK IN AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE. 



AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY— AGROTECHNY. 



A study of the oil from sumac (Rhus glabra), H. \V. Beubakeb {Jour. Indus, 

 and Engin. Chem., 11 (1919), No. 10, p. 950). — Oil extracted with dry ether 

 from ""he berries of the common .sumac (R. glabra) gathered in Kansas was 

 found to have the following average constants : Specific gravity at 15° C. 

 0.92577, index of refraction at 20° (Abba's ref ractometer ) 1.471, acid value 

 0.9, acetyl value 9.235, saponification number 192.6, iodin number 126.7G, solu- 

 ble fatty acids 0.766 per cent, and insoluble fatty acids 93.54 per cent. 



The oil, which averaged over 11 per cent of the ground seeds, is said to have 

 a mild odor, pleasant taste, and a deep yellow color, and to be rather viscid at 

 ordinary room temperature. It has fairly good drying qualities and saponifies 

 readily, giving a sodium soap of semisolid consistency. The author is of the 

 opinion that it might readily find a use as an edible oil, or in the soap-making 

 industry, or as a semidrying oil in the paint industry. 



The composition of the fruit of the Virginia creeper (Ampelopsis quinque- 

 folia), G. D. Beal and E. A. Glenz (Jour. Indus, and Engin. Chem., 11 {1919), 

 No. 10, pp. 959, 960). — The analyses reported include determinations of the 

 proximate constituents of the fruit of the Virginia creeper (A. quinquefolia) 

 by extraction with benzene, methyl alcohol, water, and sulphuric acid, and the 

 analytical constants of the oil as extracted from the seeds by petroleum ether. 

 The seeds yielded on 16-hour extraction in the Soxhlet apparatus 25.6 per cent 

 of an odorless oil of the appearance of olive oil and with a slight taste sug- 

 gestive of castor oil. The oil belongs in the castor oil group of fatty oils as 

 shown by the following analytical constants : Specific gravity at 15.5° C. 0.924, 

 index of refraction at 15° 1.4762, saponification number from 186 to 194, and 

 iodin number 86 to 90. 



The indigenous tans and vegetable dyestufEs of New Zealand. — II, Experi- 

 mental, B. C. Aston (Jour. Agr. [New Zeal], 16 (1918), No. 6, pp. S58-365).— 

 In continuation of the article previously noted (E. S. R., 38, p. 309), experi- 

 mental data are reported on the tannin content of New Zealand trees, and 

 directions are given for dyeing woolen goods with the bark or root of Coprosma 

 grandtfoUa, the kanono or tree-karamu of the Maori. 



Manipulations of applied analytical chemistry, M. Francois (Manipulations 

 de Chimie Analytique AppUqii6e. Paris: Octave Doin d Son, 1919, pp. 268, figs. 

 18). — This manual, the material of which corresponds to the laboratory work 

 in chemistry of the fourth year of the Schools of Pharmacy, France, consists 

 of four sections as follows: Analysis of drugs, analysis of food materials, 

 biological analyses, and toxicological analyses. 



In the selection and grouping of material a general knowledge of chemistry 

 and analytical chemistry is presupposed, the arrangement of manipulation is 

 such that one passes from the more easy to the more difficult procedures, and 

 one method only is given for the analysis of each substance. 



The original text for the section on biological analysis was written by 

 Grimbert. 

 710 



