46 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



the ointment remains on the skin too long, the mercury is apt to be ab- 

 sorbed into the system, and will, in many cases, produce salivation. 

 No. 59. The essential oil of berganiot, or any other essential 



oil, rubbed into the skin, is said to be an effectual 

 remedy, and not to have any injurious eifecfc what- 

 ever, excepting a little smarting when first applied. 

 The seeds of a larkspur, Delphinium, sometimes called 

 " slave's-acre," are said to be an effectual remedy for 

 head-lice ; but cleanliness is the most effectual pre- 

 ventive, and all the clothes should be scalded before 

 putting on again, as most of these lice frequently 

 hide themselves in the folds of the linen, and are 

 thus carried from one person to another. These figures are magnified. 



REPORT OF THE CHEMIST. 



Sir : The unfinished investigations mentioned in my last report have 

 been completed, and have afforded results of great value, but the ana- 

 lytical work relating to new investigations has been materially inter- 

 fered with by the preparation and care of the collection in the late 

 International Exhibition in Philadelphia, and I have, therefore, but 

 little to report. 



The investigations that have been completed are as follows: 



1. On the extent, composition, and value of certain deposits of bat 

 guano in the Southern States. 



2. On the proportion of tannic acid in American tanning materials. 



3. On the composition of wines from some new varieties of American 

 grapes. 



4. On the presence and amount of oxalic aoid in MesembryantJiemum 

 crystallinum, and composition of the ash of the same. 



5. On the composition of the ash of i^ueda californica. 

 G. Analysis of a green sand marl from Maryland. 



The collection prepared for the International Exhibition by the divis- 

 ion under my charge consisted of specimens of soils, marls, and fertil- 

 izers, and of those agricultural and horticultural products the value of 

 which depends upon their chemical composition, and the utilization -of 

 which involves chemical processes. It contained not only raw mate- 

 rials, but also specimens from the different stages of the processes of man- 

 ufacture involved in their utilization, and were so arranged as to illus- 

 trate as far as they would the processes in question. The classification 

 of the collection was mentioned in my general report to you, and it is 

 therefore unnecessary to detail it here. The list of the materials will 

 be published in a special catalogue, but I deem it of considerable inter- 

 est and value to incorporate here a sketch of the American methods of 

 manufacture of cheese, with analyses of the materials and products ex- 

 hibited, prepared by Prof. G. C. Caldwell, of Cornell University, Ithaca, 

 jSTew York. 



The collection for the illnstration of the inauufacture of the products of the dairy 

 prepared and analyzed at the laboratory of agricultural chemistry in Cornell University 

 at the request of the Department of Agriculture, and placed in its exhibit at the Cea 

 tennial, consists of samples obtained directly from dealers in dairy suppl ies, or from 

 factories or private manufacturers of butter or cheese. 



It begins naturally with salt, rennet, and annotto — the Crst being universally used 

 ill the manufacture of both butter and cheese, the second always in the manufacture, 



