598 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIX. No. 1277 



kno'mi types is that it is made of Monel metal 

 and is not lined. The sulphuric and nitric acids 

 formed during the combustion of the coal sample 

 attack the bomb very slightly. Gravimetric sul- 

 phur determinations give the sulphur correction 

 directly. Since some of the acids are neutralized 

 by the metal of the bomb, the nitric acid correc- 

 tion can not be determined, but is ordinarily too 

 small to affect the accuracy of determinations for 

 industrial purposes. The result is a bomb which 

 gives results agreeing with the standard types 

 much closer than the ordinary errors in sampling 

 and which can be made for a small fraction of tl^e 

 cost of any lined calorimeter. 



Non-metallic inclusions in steel: E. G. Mahin. 

 In this paper the origin and nature of inclusions 

 is briefly discussed and the general effects upon 

 the properties of the steel are noted. The prin- 

 cipal effects are of two classes: (1) They produce 

 the same kind of weakness as would result from 

 cavities of similar size and form. (2) Ferrite 

 segregation usually occurs in such a manner as 

 that inclusions are found as nuclei of ferrite 

 grains. If the steel is forged or rolled these 

 grains and their inclusions become elongated and 

 ordinary thermal treatment fails to destroy the 

 resulting banded structure. The various theories 

 that have been advanced to account for these facts 

 are discussed, particular attention being devoted 

 to the idea of Stead, to the effect that iron phos- 

 phide is entirely responsible for ferrite segrega- 

 tion and that inclusions have a purely incidental 

 connection with this phenomenon. Experimental 

 work is described, illustrated by lantern slides, as 

 a result of which the conclusion is reached that 

 the persistence of ferrite bands is, in fact, largely 

 or entirely due to phosphorus, but that inclusions 

 exert an effect upon the crystallization of ferrite 

 which is independent of the presence of phos- 

 phorus. Certain hypotheses are advanced to ac- 

 count for the observed facts. 



Mineral rubier: Gustav Eglofp. 



Manufacture of castor oil: J. H. Sheadek. A 

 description of the technology of castor oil manu- 

 facture as practised by the castor oil manufac- 

 turers, together with that of the government 

 plant at Gainesville. 



Possihility of commercial utilization of oil from 

 clierry pits, tomato seed and grape seed: J. H. 

 Sheader. The possibility of the commercial utili- 

 zation of the canning house by-products of cherry 

 pits, tomato seed and grape pomace is considered 

 in the light of the economic question involved in 



assembling the raw material before manufacturing 

 the finished product, together with a brief descrip- 

 tion of the technical questions involved. 



Sugar saving iy home-grown sugar beets: John 

 M. Ort and James P. Withrow. This work was 

 undertaken as a war help, though interest in the 

 subject in rural communities and state institutions 

 has existed for years. In the ordinary manufac- 

 ture of beet sugar, the sugar is separated from 

 the syrup by crystallization and the sugar then 

 refined. This leaves most of the salts and strongly 

 flavored organic impurities in the residual impov- 

 erished syrup of molasses so that it is fit only for 

 cattle food or fertilizer. It is this material also 

 which has rendered difficult the elimination of the 

 beet flavor from the syrup from sugar beets. 

 Otherwise the making of this syrup for home con- 

 sumption would long ago have been an important 

 rural home industry. Home cultivated sugar beets 

 properly trimmed, peeled, decoied and sliced were 

 found to yield a bright syrup with good taste upon 

 treatment with hot water after a preliminary wash 

 and then boiling down. This gives a sweetening 

 available for many culinary purposes and in 

 which, with ordinary care, the characteristic beet 

 flavor is nearly eliminated or not too promhieut 

 for use as syrup. Contrary to the published state- 

 ments no simple treatment has been foimd which 

 will consistently render this syrup entirely palat- 

 able but it can be used in all cases with as little 

 real basis for objection as the sorghum syrup so 

 much made in rural districts. It is hoped that 

 more resourceful investigators will succeed in the 

 entire elimination of this disagreeable flavor, and 

 in every case. We have but dipped into the sub- 

 ject. 



Charles L. Parsons, 



Secretary 

 (To be continued) 



SCIENCE 



A Weekly Journal devoted to the Advancement of 

 Science, publishing the official notices and pro- 

 ceedings of the AmericEin Association for 

 the Advancement of Science 



Published every Friday by 



THE SCIENCE PRESS 



LANCASTER, PA. GARRISON, N. Y. 



NEW YORK, N. Y. 



Enteied in the post-office at Lancuter. Pa,, ai second daw matter 



