954 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIX. No. 1017 



Preliminary Notes on the Curing of Cucurnber 



Pickles: H. N. Riley. 



The activities manifest in a curing tank of cu- 

 cumber pickles seem all to depend upon the growth 

 of certain bacteria, known as "laetie-a«id bac- 

 teria." These seem to govern the rate of fer- 

 mentation, or giving off of gas, and the produc- 

 tion of acid. The rate of fermentation mechan- 

 ically governs the rate of absorption of salt, 

 which is also influenced, to some extent, by the 

 size of the pickle. The growth of mold and yeast 

 seems destructive as they destroy the acid which is 

 the principal keeping factor in the brine. 



A Ttapid Graphic Method for Calculating Bations 



and Dietaries: D. L. Randall. 



The different common foods were classified ac- 

 cording to the weight of protein in a hundred 

 calorie portion and were arranged graphically on 

 cards so that the distance taken up by any quan- 

 tity of a food is the same as that which represents 

 the protein as plotted to a definite scale. By 

 suitable manipulation of these cards one can de- 

 termine the quantity of different foods in com- 

 bination necessary to get a definite amount of 

 protein and energy and can determine the compo- 

 sition of any mixture of foods, all this being done 

 with no other calculation than the addition of 

 simple whole numbers usually less than ten. 



The Hydrolysis, under Pressure, of Sugar Solu- 

 tions: W. S. HUBBAKD AND W. L. MITCHELL. 



Notes on the Determination of Total Sulfur: 



Philip L. Blumenthal. 

 Barium in Various Plants: Nicholas Knight 



AND Lester W. Rusk. 



The leaves and stems of thirteen different 

 plants and common trees have been examined and 

 barium has been found in all of them. Twenty- 

 five grams of the leaf or stem have been taken for 

 each determination. The investigation will be 

 extended to include plants from widely different 

 localities. 



The Non-uniformity of Drying Oven Tempera- 

 tures: LoRiN H. Bailey. 



Tests on eight different types of drying ovens, 

 including those heated by gas, electricity, hot 

 water and steam, showed that only those ovens 

 which are surrounded by boiling water and steam, 

 or by steam alone, maintain uniform temperatures. 

 Other ovens show maximum variations of from 

 15° C. to 24° C. throughout the drying chambers, 

 and a range from 2° to 17° C. from the tempera- 

 ture indicated by thermometer inserted through 

 the top of oven and ordinarily taken as the tem- 



perature at which the drying is done. It is the 



type rather than the price that makes a good 



oven. 



The Analysis of Alkali Soils: C. N. Catlin. 



The determination of "alkali," in soil, is one of 

 the most important analyses the agricultural chem- 

 ist in semi-arid countries is called upon to make, 

 but there are no standard methods for the determi- 

 nation. The author has collected and made a com- 

 parative study of many of the methods now in use. 

 The results in several cases were not even com- 

 parable, the percentage of water soluble solids by 

 some methods amounting to several times that 

 found by others. Chlorides corresponded approxi- 

 mately. The chief source of difference lies in the 

 completeness of solution of sodium carbonate and 

 of calcium sulphate, neither of which is dissolved 

 easily and completely from the soil. The highest 

 results were obtained by the method in use at the 

 Arizona Agricultural Experiment Station. This 

 consists in digesting 50 grams of soil with 800 to 

 100 c.c. of water for ten hours on the boiling 

 bath, whereby a constant and complete extraction 

 of water-soluble salts is secured. Aside from the 

 difference due to completeness of extraction, large 

 discrepancies were found in determining sodium 

 carbonate. 

 Dates: Comparative Cost of, in Akron, Ohio: 



Chas. p. Fox. 

 The Composition of Gooseberries, with Special 



Reference to their Pectin Content: E. H. S. 



Bailey. 



Some preliminary analyses have been made 

 upon a variety of wild spiny gooseberries that 

 grow abundantly through northern latitudes. The 

 interior of the half-ripened berry; the condition 

 best suited to jelly making, consists of a firm, 

 hard, glistening mass, with but few seeds. In 

 order to obtain the juice it is necessary to boil the 

 crushed berries repeatedly with water. On a 

 large scale the berries yield 9.88 per cent, of in- 

 soluble material, including skins, seeds and short 

 stems. 



A preliminary analysis of the berries gives: 



Per Cent. 



Dry solids 19.42 



Ash 87 



Ash, soluble in water 87 



Ash, insoluble in water 33 



Proteins 1.37 



Acid (as acetic) 1.27 



Since pectins are precipitated by mineral salts, 

 the question is raised to what extent the use of 



