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SCIENCE 



[Vol. LVI, No. 1436 



the forest products industry in the south," and 

 by William H. Stone, associate editor of the 

 Manufacturers' Record, on "The remarkable 

 development of the south and its relations to 

 the American chemical industry," and a public 

 address to the people of Birmingham by Pro- 

 fessor Marston Taylor Bogert on the evening 

 of April 5 under the title, "The flower fields 

 and the organic chemist. Perfumes — natural 

 and synthetic." 



At the general business meeting held on 

 Tuesday morning, April 4, resolutions and 

 tributes were presented to the general society 

 on our late honorary member, Giacomo Ciami- 

 cian, and a long tune councilor and active mem- 

 ber, the late Dr. Charles Baskerville, the society 

 remaining standing for a few moments as a 

 tribute to the memory of each. 



ToUowing these tributes to members of the 

 society, Dr. W. A. Noyes referred to the work 

 of Adolph von Baeyer and Emil Tisoher. 



At the general meeting on Tuesday afternoon 

 the following general papers were presented : 



The manufacture of phosphoric acid in the 

 electric furnace by the condensation and electrical 

 precipitation method: Theodore Swann. 



The pioneer's field in petroleum research: Van 

 H. Manning. 



Information needs in science and technology: 

 Charles L. Eeese. 



Recent developments of the chemistry of rub- 

 ier: "W. C. Geer. 



Some research problems in the canning indus- 

 try: W. D. BiGELOW. 



Chemistry in the old south and the new: Fran- 

 CIS P. Venable. 



The following divisions and sections met: 

 Divisions of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 

 Biological Chemistry, Dye Chemistry, Indus- 

 trial and Engineering Chemistry, Organic 

 Chemistry, Physical and Inorganic Chemistry, 

 Rubber Chemist :y. Sugar Chemistry, and 

 Water, Sewji;;e and Sanitation Chemistry; 

 sections ofi Cellulose Chemistry, Chemical Edu- 

 cation, History of Chemistry, and Petroleum 

 Chemistry. Full details of their meetings will 

 be found in the May issue of the Journal of 

 Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. 



On Tuesday evening a very enjoyable smoker 

 was tendered bv the Alabama Technical Asso- 



ciation to the society at the Southern Club. 

 The Country Club, the Roebuck Country Club 

 and the Southern Club were open to the mem- 

 bers throughout the meeting. On Friday ex- 

 cursions were made to the industrial plants 

 around Birmingham and a barbecue was given 

 at noon, which was a unique experience to many 

 of the members and was enjoyed by all. The 

 scientific program was extensive, 237 papers 

 being presented. 



Division or Agricultural and Food Chemistry 

 T. J. Bryan, chairman 

 C. S. Brinton, secretary 

 Composition, grade and iaMng qualities of self- 

 rising flour: Benjamin E. Jacobs. The author 

 discusses briefly grades of wheat and flonr, and 

 the process of milling ordinary flour. Examina- 

 tion of forty-seven samples of commercial self- 

 rising flour and a few samples of this product 

 made iu the laboratory was made. The data give 

 determinations of moisture, protein, total ash, 

 added salt, P , SO , CO available and residual, 



' 2 5' 3' 2 ' 



microscopic count of bran and hair particles and 

 baking tests. From these data the author shows 

 that approximately 25 per cent, of the commercial 

 product is of a grade inferior to what is com- 

 monly known as ' ' straight ' ' grade of flour. He 

 also shows that a large number of samples con- 

 tain excessive amounts of acid-calcium-phosphate 

 and are deficient in CO . The baking experiments 

 which are accompanied by photographs show that 

 many of these self-rising flours make biscuits of 

 inferior quality, this inferiority being due to the 

 grade of flour used as well as to deficiencies in 

 CO,. 



Bleached and self -rising flours : Juanita E. 

 Darrah. This paper discusses the nutritive 

 values of bleached and self -rising flours and gives 

 the results of a series of experiments in feeding 

 rats. The author 's conclusions are that bleached 

 flour is inferior. Self-rising flour is not neces- 

 sarily inferior, if not bleached and if milled and 

 compounded correctly and marketed in original 

 packages. She recommends that stringent meas- 

 ures should be adopted to standardize such flours, 

 and for protection of the honest miller there 

 should be required a statement of the proportion 

 of all ingredients on the label. It is concluded 

 that the better growth of rats fed on products 

 made from self -rising flour over those fed on 

 bleached flour diet must be due to the presence 

 of the phosphates in the leavening agents added 

 in the manufacture of self-rising flour. This has 



