168 EXPERIMENT iSTATION RECORD. 



that oysters will absorb by osmotic action a portion of any water in which 

 they may be placed. At the same time oyster solids pass out to a certain extent 

 into the surrounding water. There is no doubt that in this way not only are 

 the juices of the oyster diluted by the water absorbed, but the flavor is still 

 further impaired by the loss of solids. There is a marked difference in flavor 

 between oysters in a natural state and those in the water-soaked, adulterated 

 condition which has been the rule up to recent time." 



The average amount of water found in the meats of 22 samples taken directly 

 from the shells and to which no water was added was 16.3 per cent. Consider- 

 ing the solids in the entire samples, that is, meat and liquor together, the water 

 content ranged from 9.38 to 17.70 per cent. 



" Taking everything into consideration the standard of 10 per cent of solids 

 established by the State board of health seems abundantly low. Further, it 

 should be recognized that the addition of water to oysters, with percentages of 

 solids large enough to stand dilution, must be treated as an adulteration. The 

 standard is not to be looked upon as one of excellence, but the minimum that 

 will be tolerated. The average should be much higher; that shown l)y the 

 samples under consideration is 13.58 per cent." 



Copper was found in small quantities in the 34 samples examined, the amount 

 varying greatly. The minimum quantity calculated on the dry matter basis 

 was 0.00.5 per cent, the maximum 0.17 per cent, and the average 0.05 per cent. 

 "Attention may be called to the fact that the liquor accompanying the oysters 

 has, whenever examined, been found to contain copper in quantities of the 

 same order of magnitude as those found in the meats." 



" From the data now at hand, however, it seems safe to conclude that 

 copper is a normal constituent of the oyster. It seems not unlikely that sam- 

 ples carrying the larger quantities may be deleterious, at least to individuals 

 especially susceptible to the toxic effect of the metal. The oysters rich in 

 copper have a coppery taste and a greenish-blue color. A green color in oysters 

 has been observed to be caused by algre upon which the oysters had fed." 



For earlier work see a previous note (E. S. R., 18, pp. 10G5). 



Report on food products for 1907, W. M. Allen and H. M. Card (BhL X. C. 

 Dept. Agr., 28 {1907), No. 12, pp. 64)- — During the year 560 samples of foods 

 and beverages have been examined, including meat, fish, and oysters, catsup 

 and sauces, canned goods, condensed milk, baking powders, jams and preserves, 

 pickles, vinegar, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, etc. 



Less than 7.5 per cent of the samples of meat examined were adulterated, 

 a marked improvement over conditions the previous year. Boric acid was the 

 adulterant identified. 



Codfish was exaniinetl to determine whether boric acid used externally as a 

 preservative would be removed by such treatment as is necessary to remove 

 salt before the fish is eaten, a sample being soaked for 12 hours in 4 times its 

 weight of cold water. The water was then poured off and the sample rinsed 

 in fresh water and boiled for 20 minutes in another quantity of water. The 

 fish was then removed and the water evaporated. It was found to contain 

 only a trace of boric acid. 



Ice cream thickeners, G. E. Patrick {Amer. Food .Jour., 3 (1908), No. 2, 

 pp. 11, 12). — The thickeners most commonly used are gelatin, gum tragacanth, 

 starch, dextrin, and rennet. Methods employed in the examination of ice cream 

 for such thickeners and related questions are spoken of on the basis of the 

 author's investigation of the subject. In view of the fact that by the use 

 of thickeners and regulating the siieed of freezers the quantity of ice cream 

 may be materially increased, the author is of the opinion that this material 

 should be sold by weight rather than by volume or measure, 



