212 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1128 



Some Effect of High Pressures: John Johnston. 



(Lantern.) 



Public Lectures. Complimentary to the citizens 

 of Champaign and Urbana. 



Charles L. Parsons, ' ' Production of Radium, ' ' il- 

 lustrated by lantern slides and moving pictures. 



Curtis P. Burnam, ' ' Use of Radium in Treatment 

 of Cancer," illustrated. 



All divisions of the society held well-attended 

 meetings. The titles of papers presented follow 

 with abstract so far as abstracts could be ob- 

 tained. 



DIVISION OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY 



L. M. Tolman, Chairman 

 Glen P. Mason, Secretary 

 Cattle Foods : Carl S. Miner. 

 Starch and Glucose: A. P. Bryant. 

 The Chemist in the Canned-food Industry: W. D. 



Bigelow. 



The canner, like other manufacturers, sometimes 

 finds it advantageous to have miscellaneous sup- 

 plies examined. The laboratory finds a greater 

 field of usefulness, however, in determining the 

 cause of and finding a means of preventing various 

 kinds of spoilage and real and apparent inferiority. 

 This sometimes involves the systematic study of 

 methods of canning in order that the exact tech- 

 nique that will uniformly give the best results may 

 be accurately defined. All this work requires an 

 intimate knowledge of the technology of the in- 

 dustry. Laboratories frequently make serious 

 errors in answering questions submitted by canners, 

 because of an imperfect knowledge of the facts. 

 Errors of this sort do great damage to the industry 

 and work injury to the reputation of the chemical 

 profession. Greater care on the part of chemists 

 is urged in such matters. 



The Chemical Control of Gelatin Manufacture: J. 



R. Powell. 



Chemical control has been limited until quite re- 

 cently, but when demanded by the advance in food 

 requirements, its installation has proved of value 

 to the manufacturer. This control covers the in- 

 spection of raw material and chemicals; the con- 

 trol of the actual manufacturing process, and the 

 inspection of the finished product and by-products. 

 Raw material is examined for its yields and the 

 presence of interfering impurities. Manufactur- 

 ing processes require such attention as will prevent 

 the introduction of impurities, and the deteriora- 

 tion of the gelatin. The finished product is exam- 



ined to judge its commercial value, and suitability 

 for food purposes. 



Flour: Harry Snydee. 



The Removal of Barium Chlorid from Table Salt: 



W. "W. Skinner. 



A preliminary investigation by the Bureau of 

 Chemistry showed that salts of certain grades con- 

 tain considerable amounts of barium chlorid. As 

 barium chlorid is a poisonous substance the use 

 of such salt in food products is a menace to health. 

 Therefore, the elimination from the market of salt 

 containing barium chlorid in any appreciable 

 quantity is highly desirable. 



A method of treatment has been developed for 

 the removal of the barium from the brine. This 

 method depends upon the addition of sodium sul- 

 phate and calcium oxide in proper proportions and 

 the blowing of air through the treated brine to de- 

 compose the ferrous bicarbonate, naturally present, 

 thus obtaining a rapid precipitation. The method 

 gave such promising results in the laboratory and 

 from a test run of sis days in the works, that one 

 large salt manufacturer decided to try it out and 

 installed the necessary equipment for the treatment 

 of 200,000 gallons of brine per day. The treat- 

 ment was begun in September, 1915, and has been 

 in operation continuously ever since. The results 

 so far obtained indicate that the process is a com- 

 plete success. Ordinarily two and sometimes three 

 grades of salt are produced. Since the installation 

 of the process, however, the entire output of the 

 plant has been of the No. 1 grade known to the 

 trade as table and dairy salt. No off grade or No. 

 2 salt is produced. The cost of treatment is esti- 

 mated at from 1J to '1A cents per barrel. About 

 sixty thousand barrels of salt containing only in- 

 significant traces of barium have been produced by 

 the new process. 



Flavoring Extracts: George Lloyd. 

 The High Character of the Manufactured Foods 



offered the Public To-day: A. V. H. Mory. 



Experience gained from careful examination of 

 several hundred samples of manufactured food 

 products, representing nearly all varieties, shows 

 that adulteration and misbranding are seldom met 

 with to-day in the goods of reputable producers, 

 and that the adulteration that represents a serious 

 menace to health is practically non-existent. 



About the only service the laboratory of a large 

 distributing house has been able to render is that 

 of helping the expert buyers to select the best from 

 a number of perfectly legal and wholesome products 

 submitted for consideration; all of which is a 

 testimonial to the present efficiency of law enforce- 



