198 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



ture for these tables. He suggested that the tables of the United States Bureau 

 of Standards be provisionally adopted. Chairman Tolman also made a few 

 remarks on uniform methods for fat and oil analysis, and pointed out the work 

 done by various scientific organizations in this regard. 



L. L. Van Slyke, chairman of the committee on amendments to the constitu- 

 tion, made certain recommendations which were adopted. 



As usual much attention was given to the subjects of food and drug analysis. 

 Following a progress report from W. Frear, chairman of the committee on food 

 standards, the associate referee on colors. W. E. Mathewson, reported on coop- 

 erative work with the identification of colors of known origin and a method for 

 oil-soluble colors. The i-eferee on fruit and fruit products, C. P. Moat, made a 

 brief report on the determination of moisture in food products. R. W. Balcom, 

 associate referee on vinegar, gave a progress report and spoke in regard to the 

 question of clarifying before proceeding with the estimation of reducing sugars 

 and the presence of an aldehyde in cider vinegar which reduced Fehling's solu- 

 tion, and, further, of the relation of the alkalinity of the ash to the amount of 

 ash present. A general discussion of the subject of vinegar followed this report. 

 A paper on the estimation of glycerin, etc., was read by B. B. Ross. 



The associate referee on flavoring extracts, E. M. Chace, reported on the 

 cooperative work on testing the accuracy of the Kleber, Bennett, fuchsin-sul- 

 phite, and Hiltner methods for citi'al in lemon and orange oils. The Kleber 

 method gave the best results and apparently the Bennett method, the figures of 

 which were in close agreement with it, will with some modifications be a good 

 optional one. Recommendations were made for methods for estimating vanillin, 

 coumarin, and acetanilid, and for estimating and identifying vanillin and cou- 

 marin, caramel, and citral in flavoring extracts. A paper on ginger extract by 

 J. P. Street and C. B. Morrison was read, and one on A Quick Method for 

 Determining the Ether Extract in Dried Powdered Substances, such as Cocoa, 

 Coffee, and Spices, by A. E. Leach and R. S. Hiltner. A. F. Seeker, as associate 

 referee on spices, reported on paprika, with particular I'eference to the identi- 

 fication of added oil and the reliability of the iodin number for detecting this 

 oil, and recommended a further study of the chemical characteristics of the 

 paprika extract. The associate referee on baking powder, E. Clai'k. discussed 

 a few personal observations made on the presence of injurious and poisonous 

 substances in baking powders. T. J. Bryan, as associate referee on fats and oils, 

 reported highly satisfactory cooperative results on the determination of palm 

 oil in the presence of vegetable oils by the Eisenschiml and Copthorne method. 

 The associate referee on cocoa and cocoa products, W. L. Dubois, recommended 

 on the basis of cooperative work that the provisional methods for determining 

 sucrose and lactose in milk chocolate be adopted, and that the methods for fat 

 be studied further. The associate referee on coffee and tea, M. E. Jaffa, indi- 

 cated that the pi'esent provisional method for caffein does not yield all the 

 caffein on the first extraction with chloroform. The mo<lifications recom- 

 mended last year were tried out and it was found that the gravimetric deter- 

 mination could not be taken as final because a great many impurities are 

 extracted with the caffein. 



P. B. Dunbar, the associate referee on preservatives, reported the cooperative 

 work on the estimation of sodium benzoate in jams and codfish and on the 

 estimation of total sulphurous acid. Following this, a paper entitled The 

 Effect of Nitrates and Nitrites on the Tumeric Test for Boric Acid, by J. M. 

 Price and E. H. Ingersoll, was read, in which it was indicated that nitrites and 

 not nitrates were the interfering agents, nitrites being produced on evaporating 

 the nitrate in a hydrochloric acid solution. Analytical results obtained with 



