392 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LII. No. 1347 



NaHCOs and NajCOj alone or in mixtures do not 

 produce this effect. Mixed with Na-HPOi they 

 diminish or destroy its effect. 



The standcurdization of the iorax solubility test 

 for commercial casein and its application: Harpee 

 F. ZoLLER. The viscosity of casein in borax solu- 

 tions shows that the maximum viscosity is ob- 

 tained at a hydrogen ion concentration of Ph 8.15, 

 while at a pn of 8.9-9.1 the viscosity is less but 

 constant owing to the buffing effect of borax in 

 this region. The importance of conducting the 

 borax test in this buffered region is discussed. 

 The great variation in the viscosity of casein solu- 

 tions at different concentrations of casein is utilized 

 in the improved test by choosing a concentration 

 which will bring out the difference in physical 

 constitution of caseins prepared under safe and 

 dangerous temperature conditions. The viscosities 

 of several caseins in borax solutions is given to 

 show that differences in the physical structure of 

 caseins have greater influence upon their viscosity 

 than the normal contaminating substances present 

 in commercial caseins. High temperature caseins 

 always exhibit a comparatively great initial vis- 

 cosity. The improved casein-borax test is given. 

 The essential changes include low solution tempera- 

 tures, reduced concentration of casein and in- 

 creased concentration of borax. These changes are 

 based upon purely physico-chemical relationships. 

 The value of the casein-borax test is defined as an 

 accurate means of differentiating between low 

 and high temiperature caseins. 



The precipitation of grain curd casein from 

 pasteurized milk including pasteurized sweet cream 

 luttermiVk: Harper F. Zoller. The grain curd 

 method can be successfully applied to the separa- 

 tion of casein from pasteurized milks only when 

 higher precipitating temperatures are used. The 

 optimum precipitating temperatures are exhib- 

 ited in the form of curves for the different observed 

 conditions of pasteurization. The marked differ- 

 ences in the physical nature of the curd from 

 pasteurized and unpasteurized milks are strikingly 

 revealed by the grain curd method of precipita- 

 tion. Attempts to overcome some of these physi- 

 cal effects by the use of organic acids as precipi- 

 tants and with coprecipitants are described. The 

 advisability of using rennin to precipitate casein 

 from pasteurized milk is dismissed because of the 

 time required and the large quantity of mineral 

 entrained in the curd. Large centrifugals are 

 urged to wash and press the casein precipitated by 

 the grain curd method from pasteurized and nor- 



mal milk. The phenomena of the retrogression of 

 the hydrogen ion was discovered in the whey and 

 wash water bathing the curd precipitated from 

 pasteurized milk toy the grain curd process at 

 34° C. This rapid decrease in acidity is attrib- 

 uted to the excessive precipitation of alkaline earth 

 phosphates during pasteurization, and their sub- 

 sequent resolution at the expense of the hydrogen 

 ion as they are brought into ready contact by the 

 soft dispersing curd. The great check in the rate 

 of this retrogression wrought by using higher 

 temperatures for precipitation is believed to be 

 due to the engulfing of these precipitated phos- 

 phates by the firming of the curd; thus the inti- 

 mate contact between the solution and the phos- 

 phates is reduced. 



Grain curd casein: Mansfield Clark, Harper F. 

 Zoller, A. O. Dahlberg and A. C. Weimer. To 

 meet the demand for a high-grade commercial casein 

 required in the manufacture of the glue to be used 

 in the construction of aircraft, a controlled method 

 of manufacture was devised and put into larger-scale 

 operation. This method was based primarily upon 

 the properties of casein as an amphoteric electro- 

 lyte, the chief control being exercised through the 

 adjustment of the hydrogen ion concentration at 

 which the casein is precipitated and at which it is 

 washed. The casein so produced met the analyti- 

 cal requirements of the government specifications, 

 gave promise of being suitable for the manufacture 

 of a high-grade glue and possessed a uniformity 

 in physical characteristics which would doubtless 

 have eliminated the necessity for troublesome 

 changes in glue formulas. Some laboratory data 

 and certain details of manufacture are presented. 



Chlorine as a flu preventive: Harrison Hale. 

 The use of chlorine as a flu preventive when 

 breathed for 5 minutes daily in air containing 43 

 to 275 parts of chlorine per million was tested at 

 the University of Arkansas, February, 1920. 

 More than 800 treatments were given to 184 differ- 

 ent individuals, none of whom developed the flu 

 except one who began to feel sick within a few 

 hours after his first treatment, and whose case 

 seems to have developed previously. The evidence 

 tends to show that chlorine is a preventive, but is 

 not conclusive because of the rapid decrease in 

 the number of flu cases. 



, The synthesis of lysine in the organism of the 

 white rat: Howard B. Lewis and Lucie E. Boot. 



Respiration in cereals. The respiration of 

 sprouted wheat. The respiration of rice paddy 



