METEOROLOGY WATER. 13 



for about an hour the milk must be cousidered as too iuiimre for food, especially 

 for iufants. Milk iu wbicli the color disappears withiu 3 hours is of inferior 

 quality, but that requiring more than 3 hours is good market milk. The test 

 should be made in duplicate. 



A very simple means of distinguishing between cooked milk and raw milk, 

 L. Gaucher iCainpt. Rend. Soe. Biol. [Paris], G.'i (IDOS), Xo. 6, pp. 275, 27G).~ 

 A small sample (20 cc.) of milk is colored with 20 drops of a 1 per cent solu- 

 tion of hematein and shaken. If the milk is raw the rose color remains, but 

 if it has been boiled the color quickly fades. 



Pentoses in feces and their estimation, A. .Jolles {Miinchcn. Med. Wchnsclir., 

 55 (1908), Xo. 3, pp. 117-120). — In this article, which discusses the pathological 

 occurrence of pentoses, data are supplied regarding the relation of pentoses to 

 different diets. 



Miscellaneous chemical analyses, F. W. Woll and G. A. Olson (Wisconsin 

 Sta. Rpt. l'J07, pp. 160-164, 167-170). — Among the analyses reported are those 

 of a Cheddar cheese 4 years old, skim-milk cheese, salty milk, human milk, and 

 factory by-products. 



A new apparatus for determining' the condensing pow^er of soils for 

 ammonia, G. Iiusing {Ztsclir. Landw. Vcrsuchsw. OstciT., 11 {1908), No. 2, 

 pp. 123-127, fig. 1 ; ahs. in Chetn. Ahs., 2 (1908), Xo. 11, pp. 15S6, 1587).— A 

 modification by Remy of the apparatus described by Wohltmauu and Schneider 

 (E. S. R., 17, p. 537) is described and tests of it on a number of samples of soil 

 are reported. The modification provides for equalization of pressure iu the 

 apparatus before and after absorption of the ammonia and thus insures accu- 

 racy of measurement. 



Determination of the heat of combustion of organic compounds by use of 

 the platinum resistance thermometer, E. Fischer and F. Wrede {Sitzber. K. 

 Prcuss. Akud. Wiss., 1908, Xo. 5, pp. 129-1J{6; ahs. in Jour. Chcm. Soc. [Lon- 

 don], 94 {1908), No. 545, II, p. 155). — More accurate results are claimed from 

 the use of a platinum resistance thermometer in place of the mercury thermom- 

 eter. Values for the heats of combustion of sucrose and benzoic acid are 

 given as 3.954 and 6.32S large calories per gram, respectively. 



METEOROLOGY— WATER. 



Note on some meteorological uses of the polariscope, L. Bell {Proc. Amer. 

 Acad. Arts and Hci., Ji3 (1908), Xo. 15, pp. 407-412, fig. 1). — An account is here 

 given of some preliminary observations with a Savart pohiriscope at the base of 

 Mount Moosilauke, X, H., at an elevation of 1,G50 ft., from which the conclu- 

 sion is drawn that such observations give " a most instructive view of the very 

 early stages of atmospheric nucleation, and especially if combined with rain- 

 band observations should have material prognostic value as regards compara- 

 tively local conditions." 



Equivalent temperature as a unit expression of the climatic factors, air 

 temperature, and atmospheric humidity, W. Kjnoche and J. IIann {Met. 

 Ztsclir., 24 {1907), Xos. 10, pp. 433-44',. figs. 7 ;J1, pp. 501-504) .—Kiwche cal- 

 culates the equivalent temperature as well as its yearly and daily variations 

 for various climates, and discusses the value of this unit as a combined ex- 

 pression of air temperature and humidity. As defined by von Bezold equiva- 

 lent temperature is the heat measured by the thermometer plus the latent heat 

 of the aqueous vapor in the air. J. Hann in reviewing Knoche's article asserts 

 that equivalent temperature is of no value as a unit expression for air tem- 

 perature and humidity, as a climatic factor, or as a factor in the heat economy 

 of man or organisms iu general; that is, it is of no biological importance. 



