FOODS— HUMAN NUTRITION. 7 ( dl 



glucose is known to be a wholesome product. The characteristics ol pure and adulter- 

 ated maple products are discussed and standards quoted. 



Attention i> drawn to tin- fad that the exacl chemical nature of the flavoring 

 material present in the maple products isnol known, "though it is probably an ether 

 or aldehyde possessing a high boiling point. . . . Detection of this flavoring matter 

 by chemical means has, up to the presenl time, baffled the -kill of the chemist, and 

 for this reason the taste of the expert bas been relied upon almost solely to distin- 

 guish between the genuine and the adulterated article in cases u here tin- adulterant 

 18 cane sugar. Thus it is apparent that pure cane sii'_ r ar can he utilized to a certain 

 extent in the adulteration of maple products without certainty of detection. 



"The flavoring matters appear to reside chiefly in tie- molasses or semiliquid parts 

 of the maple product, and for this reason the refining of maple sugar to a perfectly 

 dry, white, crystalline mass would deprive it of the chief of its properties upon which 

 its high market value depends." The use of hickory extract for flavoring artilicial 

 or adulterated maple products is spoken of. 



Maple sirup and sugar, T. Macfarlane (Lab. Inland Rev. I>>/>t. [Canada] 11"/. 

 i<).', pp. t8). — Only 24.:; per cent of samples of maple sugar and sirup, collected 

 before the maple-sugar season in 1905, were found to be genuine. In the ca-.- -i 

 samples collected after the maple-sugar season 83.4 per cent were found to be 

 genuine. 



Concerning the dextrin found in honey from Coniferae, P. Wolfi I Tnaug. 

 Diss., Munchen, i'.»>-i; abs. in Zentbl. Stoffwechsel u. Verdau. Km,,!;., 6 I 1905), No. //, 

 .—The author concludes that the dextrin of coniferous honey is not a mixture 

 of dextrin and sugar, but a definite body having the character of achroodextrin and 

 that it differs in the honey from different varieties of Coniferse. Malic acid, in his 

 opinion, must be regarded as a normal characteristic of natural honey. 



Laboratory experiments on the digestibility of dried milk, I>. Sommerville 

 | /'///-. Health [London], 18 1 1905), X". t,pp.*40-45). — From artificial digestion experi- 

 ments with dried milk the author concludes that with respect to both protein and 

 fat it is more digestible than fresh milk, the investigation being undertaken with 

 special reference to the use of dried milk in infant feeding. 



Dried milk, "in respect of its reaction to rennet, to peptic digestion, to pancreatic 

 digestion, and in respect of the condition of its fat, . . . approaches more nearly to 

 human milk than does fresh milk, if the . . . experiments [reported] convey any 

 truthful information; and, although they must considerably differ from the corre- 

 sponding natural digestions, still they possess a certain value when carried out . . . 

 [in connection with suitable tests for purposes of comparison]. . . . 



"Probably the chief reason for the difference in the tolerance of the 2 forms of fat 

 [cream and butter] is, that in cream the fat is present in the form of globules of neu- 

 tral fat, which have to be split into glycerin and fatty acids to prepare the fat for 

 absorption. Butter, on the other hand, containing, as it does, nearly 7 per cent of 

 fatty acids— butyric, caproic, etc. — is already partially prepared for absorption. The 

 absorption of butter fat is therefore more rapid and complete than the absorption of 

 cream fat. These differences have their application in the feeding of both dyspeptic 

 adults and children. 



"Where it is necessary to add fat in quantity to adiet, it is better perhaps, in most 

 cases, to serve it in the form of butter than to add large quantities of cream to milk, 

 a- i- so often done, since the retarding influence of cream on the secretion of gastric 

 juice will interfere with the digestion of the proteidsof themilk." It is also pointed 

 out that the dried-milk preparation possesses the advantage of Bterility and constant 

 composition. 



The importance of inorganic salts in the metabolism of man and animals, 

 A. Hibschleb and V. Tkkkav (Math. a. Naturw. Ber. Ungarn, 20 (1902), /</>. 145- 

 238). — In this report, published in 1905, the authors hold that increasing knowledge 



