668 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. [Vol. 41 



The extent of the loss depends upon the amount of soluble carbohydrate and 

 protein present in the vegetable tissues, as well as upon the manipulation. 



" Losses in salts and nitrogen often, if not always, slightly exceed the fuel or 

 caloric losses. Blanching for 5 or 6 minutes causes losses of 8 to 15 per cent 

 in salts or fuel value. Peeled and sliced vegetables lose twice as much. Salting 

 the water (1.5 per cent solution, or about 1 tablespoon to the quart) decreases 

 the losses in fuel value due to boiling. Cutting the vegetable crosswise instead 

 of lengthwise, or into small instead of large pieces, increases the losses. 



" Steaming usually cuts the caloric losses down almost to zero ; also the salt 

 losses, except in case of leafy tissues, such as cabbage or spinach, which expose 

 a very large amount of surface to the action of the condensing vapor. However, 

 if conditions within the steamer are such that water washes down over the 

 vegetable mass, steaming may cause very large losses. Particularly is this the 

 case with pressure steamers. The two factors most potent in causing variations 

 in cooking losses are vai'ying lengths of time of cooking, and varying amounts 

 of water used in proportion to mass of vegetables to be cooked. 



" Steamed vegetables always lose in weight. Boiled vegetables may gain in 

 weight because their intercellular spaces take up water at the same time that 

 they are losing heavily in mineral salts and soluble carbohydrates and proteins. 



" Home canning often results in a maximum amount of vegetables and a 

 minimum amount of watery juice in the jar, partly because of close packing 

 and partly because liquid is driven off during the period of processing with the 

 seal only partially made. This relatively small amount of juice in the jar is 

 a great advantage from the standpoint of true nutritive economy — whatever 

 may be its effect upon ease of sterilization of the vegetable mass." 



Effect of pack and depth of water bath upon interior temperature of jars 

 in cold pack canning, C. E. Castle (Jour. Home Econ., 11 (1919), No. 6, pp. 

 246-251, fig. 1). — Summing up the evidence which this and previous investiga- 

 tions have afforded, the following conclusions are drawn : 



" The completeness of sterilization of vegetables packed in glass jars and 

 heated in a water bath for one hour on three successive days, counting time 

 from the beginning of boiling of the water-bath, is questioned. The water-bath 

 should completely immerse the jars, and should be brought to the boiling point 

 after immersion of the jars. When a water-bath method is used very great care 

 should be exercised in the pack. Loosely packed jars only should be used in 

 canning by usual home methods. Home-canned vegetables, particularly solid 

 packed jars, should always be heated before use to avoid the danger of 

 poisoning by the toxin of B. botulinus, the spores of which are exceedingly 

 resistant to heat." 



The supposed occurrence of methylguanidin in meat, with observations on 

 the oxidation of creatin by mercuric acetate, I. Greenwald (Jour. Amer. 

 Chem. Soc, 41 (1919), No. 7, pp. 1109-1115). — In the course of an investigation 

 of the nature of the toxic agent in meat poisoning, sufficient evidence was ob- 

 tained to demonstrate that methylguanidin is not present in meat that is In a 

 fair state of preservation. Since " meat poisoning " is due to meat that is not 

 badly decomposed, the conclusion is drawn that methylguanidin can not be 

 regarded as the toxic agent. 



The author has also confirmed the conclusions of Bauraann and Ingvaldsen' 

 that the oxidation of creatin by mercuric acetate yields methylguanido-glyoxylic 

 acid. 



Nature of the toxic agent in " meat poisoning," I. Greenwald (Amer. Jour. 

 Pub. Health, 9 (1919), No. 8, pp. 595-598). — The author reports negative results 



iJour. Biol. Chem., 28 (1918), No. 2, p. 277. 



