395 
The experiments were repeated many times and show slight varia- 
tions, but the results as shown in the tables given are fairly representative. 
BENZOIC ACID IN CRANBERRIES. 
The occurrence of benzoic acid in cranberries has been cited so often, 
and in a manner that is often misleading, figures obtained by Lafar’ on 
the low-bush cranberry, Vaccinium Vitis Idaca, being given for the common 
cranberries, Vaccinium macrocarpon and Vaccinium Oxrycoccus. Vac. Vitis 
Idaeca is a common form in Europe, growing wild, and also in this country 
in Nova Scotia, and though it is imported into the United States, it is not 
the form which is used to any extent as compared with Vac. macrocarpon. 
the large cranberry and Vac. Orycoccus, the small cranberry. The amount 
of benzoic acid in V. Vitis-[daea, as quoted by Lafar, varies from .64—86 
grams per liter. 
Testimony’ given before the committee on interstate and foreign com- 
werce of the House of Representatives on the pure food bills in February, 
1906, gave the amount occurring in raw cranberries as 3%. and that half 
of this was volatilized in the cooking. It was not stated which of the two 
American species was used for the determination. These figures have not 
been verified, so far as known to the writer, though diligent search has 
been made in many chemical and food journals. 
There is undoubtedly an antiseptic present in cranberries, a fact known 
to any one who has made either cranberry jelly or sauce, as these can be 
kept without spoiling for a long time, even when exposed to the germs in 
the air. 
Experiments were made to determine the effect of growth in cran- 
berry juice on the development of the organism used in the previous ex- 
periments. 
The cranberries selected were the small oval ones, said to contain 
the largest amount of the antiseptic and were tested in three ways: 
1. 200 grams were crushed in a mortar, then covered with 200 ce. 
water, and allowed to stand for 12 hours, after which the juice was 
filtered. 
2. 200 grams placed in an open vessel in the sterilizer and steamed 
until the cranberries were soft, after which they were crushed in a mortar, 
1 Lafar, F., Technical Mycology, Vol. I, p. 117, 1898. 
*The Canner and Dried Fruit Packer, Vol. XXVI, No. 8. 
