li8^ COTTOX 



view to ascertaining this did not giA'e conclusive results, but it is beyond 

 doubt that a lipase does exist. It would seem that this li})ase disappears 

 during or after the ripening of the fruit. 



The high content of fatty acids in the crude fatty matter is b}- no means 

 abnormal for a fat originating from a palm fruit. It is precisely to these 

 acids that the fruit owes its characteristic odour and its use in the manu- 

 facture of flavouring substances. An important part, however, is also 

 played b}^ an etherifying enzyme, as is particularh- shown by the experi- 

 ments with the American " Saw palmetto ". On extracting the fruit with 

 dilute alcohol, a liquid is obtained containing ethers the smell of which 

 strongh- suggests essential oil of grape (essence of brandy). Probably 

 there is not one onl}^ but two enzymes acting in contrary directions, one of 

 which decomposes the gh'Ceric ethers of the fatty acids into acid and al- 

 cohol while the other once again etherifies the free fatt}^ acids by means 

 of monovalent alcohols. The action of the enzyme does not appear if the 

 fruits of Serenoa are first treated with bichloride of mercury or other toxic 

 substances. 



From these observations it is concluded that the addition of an extract 

 from Serenoa fruits to brandy may produce the impression of the presence 

 of a percentage of substances imparting the natural flavour much higher 

 than the actual percentage. This extract therefore must not be put into 

 the same class with the other extracts (prunes, green walnuts, etc.) ordi- 

 narily used for flavouring brandy, as it does not merely flavour the latter, 

 but " doctors " it, so to speak, and is use was rightly prohibited 2 years ago in 

 Germany in brandy manufacture. 



912 - Experiments in connection with Spinning Cotton after Fumigation with Hydro- 

 cyanic Acid. — Dean \\'illiajis S., in United Slates Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 

 Xu. 366, 12 pp. Washington, D. C, April 24, 191 6. 



To prevent introduction of the pink boll-woorm [Gelechia gossy- 

 piella) (i) in imports of. foreign cotton, the Federal Horticultural Board of 

 the United States of America found fumigation with hydrocyanic acid 

 effective. It destroys the larvae even in the centre of a compressed bale 

 of cotton. With a view to ascertaining whether these fumigations injure 

 the fibres of the cotton the Department of Agriculture had practical spin- 

 ning tests carried out at the Xew Bedford Textile School with two kinds of 

 cotton, one part of which had been subjected to fumigation and the other 

 had not. The results showed that the fumigations of cotton with hydro- 

 cyanic acid have practically no ascertainable effect upon the proportion of 

 waste, the quality of the yarn, tensile strength, or the bleaching, dyeing and 

 mercerising qualities of the cotton. 



(i) .See B. March 1913, Xo. 213, B. .Sept. 191 J, Xo. 1119 and }i. June 1916, ^>^o. 714 



[Ed.). 



