944 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



structiiro of vegetable materials, had overlooked many distinctively 

 Amciicnn [jrodiicts with which we should be familiar. This first paper 

 was followed hy similai" studies of (lie ditiereut parts of tiie ef)coanut, 

 the shells of which are exbMisively empkn^^d for adulterating' spices, 

 and of a variety of small fi'uits, includino- field and cultivated strawber- 

 ries, raspberries, l)lackl)erries, currants, gooselxM-ries. cranberries, and 

 huckleberries. These studies of small fruits are of special importance 

 in the examination of jams, preserves, and similar pi'oducts. 



Later, studies were reported on twelve varieties of sorghum, includ- 

 ing l»i-oom coi-n. Kafir corn, durra, and milo maize, for the purpose of 

 theii" identification when ground for cattle food or adulterants. In an 

 investigation of American wheat screenings, the materials separated 

 included broken and shriveled wheat, straw and chaff, dust, and the seeds 

 of numerous weeds, among which black bindweed, green and yellow 

 foxtail, darnel, and chess were especially studied. The last report 

 of the station describes the anatomy of a number of oil-bearing seeds, 

 such as hemp, upland cotton, sesame, madia, niger, and poppy seed, 

 with special reference to the microscopic examination of cattle foods. 



This partial list gives an idea of the scope and extent of Mr. Winton's 

 investigation, and it should be added that a considerable number of 

 imijortant studies remain unpuljlished. In all of this work careful!}" 

 executed drawings have been made of separate parts of the material 

 under examination and their histological elements, which, together with 

 the descriptive text, ena])le their identification in admixtures. To 

 facilitate this and make the determination more certain, distinctive 

 features have been sought out and special tests devised, and a con- 

 venient micropolariscope has been described; all of which characterizes 

 the investigations as ingenious and painstaking to a degree, and thor- 

 oughly scientific in their execution. 



The paucity of data which is applicable to the identification of 

 materials used as adulterants oi foods and feeding stufl's is I'ather sur- 

 prising when we consider the wide interest in inspection work in this 

 country. The number of books containing material of A^alue in this 

 connection is exceedingl}^ limited. The results of isolated investiga- 

 tions in this country have been published from time to time in 

 botanical and pharmaceutical journals, but much of this work is not 

 applicable to the matter in hand, and it suffers from being fragmen- 

 tar}^ and widel}^ scattered. 



The Bureau of Chemistry of this Department has published some 

 work bearing on the subject, and is at present devoting considei'able 

 attention to histological studies of food products and adulterants. The 

 work which Mr. Winton has done, so far as it has been published, 

 has appealed strongly to food chemists, and has been eagerly em- 

 braced by them and made a part of their working stock in trade. But 

 the field is a broad one and the work of a time-consumino- character. 



