572 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX. No. 1276 



cent., about 40 per cent, of the loss being between 

 cover and can and 60 per cent, through the seams 

 of the can. The lo«s between cover and can could 

 be prevented only by adhesive tape made imper- 

 vious with melted wax or paraflS.ne. The employ- 

 ment of corks in glass jars or bottles did not af- 

 ford a tight seal. Dipping the corks ia melte-l 

 wax or parafifine did uot prevent loss of moisture 

 owing to the heated air in the corks producing 

 blow holes. A second dipping usually made the 

 corks tight. Fruit jars sealed with a rubber ring 

 and glass cover did not make a tight container. 

 Glass jars with ground glass stoppers prevented 

 drying out only when sealed with melted wax or 

 paraffine. The objection against glass containers 

 is the breakage during shipment. The only effec- 

 tive metal container is a seamless swaged can 

 with cover sealed with adhesive impervious tape ; 

 the difficulty of the method is that of making a 

 seamless can of sufficient size. 



Diets of various iirds and mammals: "W. D. 



ElCHAEDSON. 



The diets of various peoples in the light of tlie 

 Vitamine doctrine: W. D. Eichakdson. 



The indispensdbility of miVk in the adult diet: 

 W. D. Eichakdson. 



division of PHAKMACEDTICAL CHEillSTKT 



F. O. Taylor, Chairman 

 George D. Beal, Secretary 



Cooperation in drug research: F. E. Eldeed. 



Simple physical and hiologioal models vjith which 

 to srtudy the penetration and function of drugs: 

 G. H. A. Clowes. 



Western poisonous plant investigations: O. A. 

 Beath. 



The v. S. P. assay for mercurial ointment : L. F. 

 Gabel. 



Alkaloids: M. H. Webster. Alkaloids are the 

 active principles of plants and decomposed animal 

 matter. Eesearch work on alkaloids is intimately 

 connected with the development of synthetic phar- 

 maceutical chemicals and laid the foundation stone 

 upon which the whole structure of organic dyes 

 has been built. Eeference is made to the discovery 

 of alkaloids resulting from the search for those 

 principles which differentiate the physiological ac- 

 tion of drugs. Practical problems in the isolation 

 and purification are discussed, and an attempt is 

 made to trace these difficulties to alkaloidal func- 

 tions in plant metabolism. Tields obtained in 

 manufacture are compared with U. S. P. processes 

 and the status of alkaloidal drug assay is viewed 



alongside the ideals sought for in all analytical 

 methods and results. 



The preparation of vitami)\£-activated fuller's 

 earth: Athekton Seidell and E. E. Williams. 



Further studies of the properties of the vitamine 

 of hrewers' yeast: E. E. Williams and Athee- 

 TON Seidell. 



Chloretone : trichlor tertiary hutyl alcohol: H. C. 

 Hamilton. 



Color standards for cottonseed oil: H. V. Arnt. 

 A discussion of the classification of commercial 

 cottonseed oil samples by color and the unsatisfac- 

 tory character of the methods lutherto employed. 

 A rgsnmS of the work previously done by the au- 

 thor and his pupils on standardized colored fluids 

 and their use in colorimetry. A report on the use 

 of these fluids in matching the color of cottonseed 

 oil: the conclusions being that prime white, choice 

 summer yellow and off summer oils can be 

 matched by proper blends of normal or half-nor- 

 mal acidulated ferric chloride solution, half-nor- 

 mal acidulated cobalt chloride solution and water: 

 the exact figures being given in the paper. 



division op biological chemistst 



I. K. Phelps, Chairman 

 E. A. Gortner, Vice-chairman and Secretary 



Capsaicin, the pungent principle of capHc^im: 

 E. K. Nelson. Oxidation of methyl capsaicin 

 (formed by treating capsaicin with di-methyl sul- 

 phate), gives veratric acid. Hydrolysis of capsai- 

 cin gives vanillyl amine (4-hydroxy-3-methoxy- 

 benzyl-amine) and a decylenic acid. Capsaicin is 

 found to be a condensation product of 4-hydroxy- 

 3-methoxy-benzyl-amine and a decylenic acid. 

 The decylenic acid, when hydrogenated, does not 

 produce normal capric acid but an isomer of capric 

 acid. 



The relation of the physical properties of organic 

 compounds to their toxicity to insects: William 

 Moore. The results of a series of experiments 

 with a large number of different chemicals show 

 that the toxicity to insects of the vapor of an or- 

 ganic compound is correlated with its volatility or 

 boiling point. The reason for this relation is due 

 to the fact that in general a saturated or nearly 

 saturated atmosphere is required before the vapor 

 can gain entrance to the insect. Such an atmos- 

 phere is obtained by the use of smaller quantities 

 of chemicals with high boiling points or low volatil- 

 ity. The factor of penetration is sufficient to com- 

 pletely mask the true toxicity due to chemical 

 structure. 



