578 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



purchased in grocery stores were adulterated with calcium acid phosphate and its 

 accompanying impurities. In some cases little or no cream of tartar was present. 

 The samples purchased from druggists were found to be pure. 



Examining- and judging- ground black peppers, E. Spaeth (Ztschr. Untersuch. 

 Nahr. u. Genussmtl., 9 (1905), No. 1". pp. 577-595). — A summary of data regarding 

 pepper analyses. 



Concerning the analysis of wine vinegar, A. Froehxee [Ztschr. Untersuch. Nahr. 

 a. Gi nussmtl.,9 (1905), No. 6, pp. 361-363). — The author concludes that lactic acid may 

 be regarded as a normal constituent of wine vinegar and that a determination of the 

 amount present may serve as a means of judging of the quality of the product, 



Standards of purity for fermented and distilled liquors, P. Schidrowitz 

 (Jour. Soc. Chem. Indus., 24 (1905), p. 176; abs. in Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 27 (1905), 

 No. 6, Her. , pp. 352, S53) . — Various questions connected with standards of purity 

 are discussed. The adoption of a single analytical factor as a standard of purity of 

 any article is not considered advisable owing to the ease with which such a factor 

 may be changed so as to come within requirements. 



Sterilized fruits [Jour. Jamaica Agr. Soc, 9 (1905), No. 1, p. 22). — A note on 

 the successful canning of mangoes, pineapples, bananas, akees, etc., by covering the 

 fruit with cold sterilized Mater, sealing in bottles, and heating for 4 hours at 150° to 

 155° F. 



The dietetic use of predigested legume flour, particularly in atrophic 

 infants, D. L. Edsall and C. W. Miller (Amer. Jour. Med. Sci., 129 (1905), pp. 

 663-684; abs. in Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 27 (1905), No. 6, Her., p. 347). —The data 

 reported have to do with bean flour in which the starch is predigested by means of 

 a diastatic ferment. 



The diet in typhoid fever, J. B. Nichols (Reprinted from Amer. Med., 9 (1905), 

 No. 18, pp. 726-736). — In this paper, based on the author's experience and that of 

 others, a generous diet in typhoid fever is advocated. The results of a number of 

 digestion and metabolism experiments reported by different investigators are sum- 

 marized and discussed. 



The use of copper in destroying typhoid organisms and the effects of cop- 

 per on man, H. Kraemer (Amer. Jour. l'li<irm.. 77 1 1905), No. 6, pp. 265-281). — On 

 the basis of his own investigations and those of others the author recommends the 

 use of small amounts of copper for the destruction of typhoid organisms in water, 

 and states that he has obtained very satisfactory results by placing a piece of care- 

 fully cleaned copper foil 9 in. square in a vessel holding 3 to 4 qts. of water and 

 allowing it to remain 4 to 8 hours. If the water contains a large amount of sediment, 

 it is desirable to filter before treating with the copper foil. Such water has been 

 used for over 6 months without any noticeable ill effects. 



Believing that vegetables may be a source of typhoid infection, the author recom- 

 mends washing those which are to be eaten raw in copper-treated water or placing 

 them, especially lettuce and celery, in a vessel of water with a strip of copper foil and 

 allowing them to remain from 2 to 4 hours with occasional agitation. "The use of 

 copper vessels would be more convenient, but of course is more expensive." 



Some of the author's general conclusions follows "While exceedingly minute quan- 

 tities of copper in solution are toxic to certain unicellular organisms, as bacteria, it 

 is safe to assume that the higher plants and animals, including man, are unaffected 

 by solutions containing the same or even larger amounts of copper. There being a 

 number of factors which tend to eliminate copper from its solutions, it is hardly 

 likely that there would be any copper in solution by the time the water from a reser- 

 voir reached the consumer if the treatment of the reservoir were in competent hands. 

 Many plants contain relatively large quantities of copper, and when these are used 

 as food some of the copper is taken up by the animal organism, but there are no 

 records of any ill effects from copper so consumed.'' 



