FOODS NUTRITION. 599 



starch {Sagus rumphii), talipot starch or raw pahnirah root flour (Corypha umhra- 

 ctilifera), and bread-fruit flour. 



Foodstuffs made from cassava, Balland (/o«r. Pharm. et Chlm. , 6 . ser. , 17 (1903) , 

 No. 7, pp. 316-319) . — The author reports the composition of cassava meal, starch, 

 tapioca, cassava cakes, and other products. 



The utilization of rice and rice by-products {Bol. Agr. Suo Paulo, 4. ser., 1903, 

 No. 6, pp. 269-271). — A descriptive article quoting analyses. 



Sorghum flour {Bol. Agr. Sao Paulo, 4- ser., 1903, No. 6, pp. 272, 273).— The 

 manufacture and uses of sorghum flour are described. 



Banana flour, E. Leusciier {Jour. Agr. Trop., S {1903), No. 28, pp. 304-306). — 

 Information regarding banana flour is summarized and l)riefly discussed. 



Leuscher's method of preparing banana flour, J. Neish {Jour. Jamaica Agr. 

 Soc, 7 {1903), No. 11, pp. 439-441). — The method referred to is essentially as fol- 

 lows: Selected green bananas are plunged into water at 80° C. to facilitate peeling 

 and after remaining in the water from 4 to 5 minutes are removed, peeled, and intro- 

 duced into a vacuum dryer having a pressure of 700 mm. While drying the bananas 

 are kept in motion by means of stirrers which alternate and move between fixed 

 knives. The drying is completed in about 2 hours, after which the mass is passed 

 through sieves with 120 meshes to the square inch. Any material which may remain 

 is passed through a simple mill and sifted afresh. A banana flour of good keeping 

 quality, it is said, contains about 15 per cent water. 



The determination of the baking quality and value of East Prussian wheat, 

 E. Reisch {Fiihling's Landw. Ztg., 52 {1903), No». 15, pp. 545-552; 16, pp. .576-585; 

 17, pp. 605-624; 18, pp. 654-670, figs. 5; 19, 2^p. 700-712, figs. ^).— In the author's 

 opinion laboratory methods for determining the baking quality of flour are better 

 fitted to give reliable results than practical tests in a bakery. Using such methods 

 an extended investigation was made with flours ground from East Prussian wheats. 



The results obtained showed that there was considerable variation between winter 

 and spring wheat grown on the same land, and between the crops of different sea- 

 sons, the amount of rainfall, for instance, having a marked effect on the composition 

 of the crop, and that such considerations must be taken into account in judging of 

 the quality of the wheat from any given region. Other conclusions have to do with 

 details of the methods followed. 



Milk in powdered form {Breeders' Gaz., 44 {1903), No. 18, p. 724).— The method 

 of manufacturing a desiccated and powdered product from skim milk, which it is 

 claimed can be used in many ways as an article of diet, is briefly described. 



Studies of the more important milk preparations in Switzerland with 

 special reference to the chemical composition, germ content, coagulability, 

 and the digestibility in vitro, F. Sidler {Arch. Hyg., 47 {1903), No. 4, pp. 327- 

 4O6) . — From investigations made with a large number of samples of pasteurized, 

 sterilized, and condensed milks prepared in Switzerland on a commercial scale the 

 following conclusions were drawn: 



All the milk preparations examined conformed to the requirements of the Swiss 

 Food Control. On account of the heat employed in manufacture the amount of 

 so-called soluble protein in all the samples, with the exception of one brand, was 

 about one-third less than in normal unheated milk. One of the sorts of modified 

 milk did not agree with its purported composition, doubtless because the heat 

 employed in sterilizing had changed the ratio of casein to dissolved proteids. As 

 shown by cultures, 28 of the 109 samples of bottled and canned milk examined con- 

 tained bacteria, although in most cases no change could be noted in the milk. In 

 Switzerland as in Germany "sterilized" milk is not always free from micro- 

 organisms. 



The effect of hydrochloric acid upon the milk was found to vary with the degree 

 of heat which had been employed and the method of manufacture. Coagulation 



