RECENT PROGRESS IN DENDRO- 



CHEMISTRY. 



REVIEW OF RECENT ARTICLES IN LEADING CHEMICAL JOURNALS. 



BY 



WILLIAM H. KRUG, 



BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



VARIATIONS in the Occurrence of 

 Salicin and vSalinigrin in Different 

 Willow and Poplar Barks. H. A. D. 

 Jowett and C. E. Potter ( Pharm. Journ. , 

 1902, 69, 1677, 157-159)- . I'lie glu- 

 coside, salinigrin, has previously been 

 isolated by one of the authors from an 

 unknown species of Salix. A large 

 number of different species of Salix and 

 Popiihis, both European and American, 

 were collected and examined so as to 

 determine the botanical source of the 

 glucoside. Thirty-three specimens were 

 examined and salinigrin was found in 

 only one, Salix discolor, Muhl. The 

 investigations showed that the amount 

 of salicin present in the bark of a willow 

 or poplar depends both upon the species, 

 the season of the year, the sex of the 

 tree, and possibly other factors. The 

 quantity appears to increase in the fall, 

 and whilst in April bark from female 

 trees contains about three times as much 

 as that from male trees, in July the 

 latter yield the larger proportion, the 

 bark of the female trees in this month 

 being almost destitute of the glucoside. 



Improvements in and Relating to 

 the Dyeing of Timber. M. Griinhut, 

 Vienna (Eng. Pat. 13, 118, June 9, 

 1902). The dyeing solution is forced 

 into the wood by means of a pressure 

 chamber fitted to one end of the log, the 

 transmission of the liquor being facili- 

 tated by a suction chamber attached to 

 the other end. The logs are first sub- 

 jected to a treatment with soda lye under 

 pressure and the dye is dissolved in a 

 solution of alum, lactic acid, or ligno- 

 rosin. Several colors may be .obtained 

 by the use of stencil plates. 



The Determination of Alkali in Sul- 

 phite Eyes Containing Soda. H. 

 Schwartz (Chem. Ztg., 26, 77, 897). 



I . The alkali combined with sulphur- 



ous acid was determined by titration 

 with an iodine solution, using starch as 

 indicator. One cc. N/io iodine solu- 

 tion equals 0^0031 sodium oxide. 



2. The free alkali was determined in 

 the same solution by removing the blue 

 color with a drop of a solution of sodium 

 thiosulphate, adding a few drops of me- 

 thyl orange and titrating with N / 5 sul- 

 phuric acid. One cc. N / 5 sulphuric 

 acid 0.0062 sodium oxide. 



3. The alkali present as sulphate was 

 determined by evaporating a weighed 

 quantity of the lye to dryness with an 

 excess of sulphuric acid, igniting gently 

 and weighing the residue as sodium sul- 

 phate. The alkali present as sulphate 

 was obtained by subtracting i and 2 

 from this weight. 



Paper Industry of Germany (U. S. 

 Cons. Reps., Aug, 12, 1902). Con- 

 tracts for wood pulp were readily closed 

 during 1901, but towards the end of 

 the year lower prices prevailed, owing 

 to lack of water and foreign competi- 

 tion. The rise in the price of pine 

 wood has ceased, owing to the fact that 

 consumers are making their purchases 

 direct, and wood from Finland is able to 

 compete when the transportation charges 

 are not too high. The wood-pulp indus- 

 try urges an increase in the dutj^ on dry 

 pulp from one mark to three marks per 

 hundred kilos and a duty of two marks 

 per 100 kilos on moist pulp The fol- 

 lowing table shows the trade in packing 

 paper for the years 1900 and 1901: 



t 



(476.) 



