BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY. 219 



prosi^ect tluit in time a new industry utilizing corncobs, a by-prod- 

 uct heretofore largely wasted, may be established. As such an in- 

 dustry would make xylose available in large quantities, studies on 

 the utilization of this hitherto rare sugar have been undertaken. 

 A relatively simple process for its conversion into gulonic lactone, 

 which might be useful commercially, has been patented and pub- 

 lished. Moreover, a large series of bacteria has been found capa- 

 ble of fermenting xylose, to form certain products which may be of 

 value industriall3\ 



Data on the occurrence of the rare sugar melezitose in a manna 

 from the Douglas fir and on the crystallography and optical prop- 

 ei-ties of three aldopentoses have been published. Papers upon the 

 crystallographic propei-ties of melezitose, upon the amide of a-d- 

 mannohepUmic acid, and upon the I'otatory powers of the amides of 

 several a-hydroxy acids of the sugar group are in press. 



The distribution of pure sugars, especially for use in bacteriologi- 

 cal research, was more extensive this year than heretofore, varying 

 amounts of 10 different pure sugars having been sent out. 



I'he curtailment of distilling and brewing together with the war- 

 time restrictions placed upon the consumption- of sugar, seems to 

 have stimulated the production of barley sugar or maltose, as well 

 as that of maltose sirup. Since the extension of the uses of such 

 material is a matter of some interest to the producer of barley, prac- 

 tical studies on the use of maltose sirup in candy manufacture 

 have been undertaken. Preliminary results indicate that perhaps 

 large quantities of maltose sirup can be employed in this way. 



The project on the production of a imiform cane sirup that will 

 neither ferment nor crystallize, which had ixached such a stage that 

 the problem was in the main how to introduce and cause to be used 

 the processts devised in the bureau, has received a setback because 

 jeast, necessary in these processes, is now obtainable only with dif- 

 ficulty. A search for substitutes for yeast has therefore been made, 

 and preliminary results justify the hope that certain molds which 

 can be grown easily and cheaply may form sufficient of the enzyme 

 invertase to make it possible to use them instead of yeast for this 

 particular purpose. 



The bureau has cooperated with the Louisiana State Experiment 

 Station in the study of the deterioration of raw sugars caused by 

 the action of molds. In the preparation of cellulose acetates and 

 their study, undertaken for the Bureau of Aircraft Production, 

 some new cellulose compounds were prepared. This work has been 

 closed. 



FATS AND OILS. 



Department Bulletin 769, "The Production and Conservation of 

 Fats and Oils in the United States," giving a digest of the data 

 collected during 1917 and 1918 by the U. S. Food Administration 

 and the Bureau of Chemistry, was issued. This is perhaps the first 

 complete and critical survey of the fat and oil industry and traffic 

 of any country, and as a consequence the demand for the bulletin 

 has been very great. A supplement containing the revised statistics 

 up to Januar}^, 1919, is now in press. Hereafter the Bureau of the 

 Census will collect the production, importation, and exportation 

 figures on fats and oils, and issue them in quarterly reports. 



