956 



SCIENCE 



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



The Physiological Water Requirement and the 

 Growth of Plants in Glycocoll Solutions : Alfred 

 Dachnowski and a. Gormley. 

 Though it is not known precisely to what extent 

 amino acids occur in peat soils, the question of the 

 ability of plants to utilize directly nitrogenous 

 compounds in the soil other than nitrates and am- 

 monia is of considerable importance. The data 

 presented show that the absorption of glycocoll is 

 not connected with the transpirational water loss, 

 but with the efficiency of the nutritive metabolism 

 characteristic of the plant, and with the amount 

 of water retained within the plant and involved 

 in metabolism. Changes in body weight, if taken 

 as the measure of growth, may be pronouncedly 

 altered by the quantity of the metabolieally re- 

 tained water as well as by the deposition or re- 

 moval of reserve materials in the tissues. The 

 failure to promote continuous growth may be due 

 to the inefficiency of glycocoll to supply material 

 for tissue construction. This and the lack of avail- 

 able water enforce compensating processes in the 

 plant. The apparently inevitable conclusion is en- 

 tertained that the problem of the water require- 

 ment of plants and the criteria for the wilting 

 coefficient, in particular the relation between the 

 water content of the plant and that of the soil at 

 the time of wilting, need to be reinvestigated more 

 quantitatively than has heretofore been attempted. 

 The retention of water, not transpiration, is the 

 physiological function correlated with and indis- 

 pensable to growth in general, and to survival and 

 greater areal distribution of plants entering phys- 

 ically or physiologically arid habits. (To appear 

 in Amer. Jour, of Botany, Vol. I., April, 1914.) 



The Estimation of Amino Acids as Such in the 



Soil: E. S. POTTEE AND E. S. Snyder. 

 Methods Adapted for the Determination of De- 

 composition in Eggs and in other Protein Prod- 

 ucts: H. W. Houghton and F. C. Weber. 

 The methods that were found most applicable 

 for the determination of decomposition are the 

 Folin titration and Nesslerization methods for 

 free ammonia, Klein's modification of Van Slyke's 

 method for amino nitrogen and Folin-Wentworth 

 method for acidity of fat. Calculating the re- 

 sults on liquid eggs to a moisture-fat free basis, 

 the following amounts of ammonia nitrogen in 

 milligrams per 100 grams of material were ob- 

 tained: By the Folin titration method, seconds 

 gave, 11.4, spots, 14.1, light rots, 17.3, rots, 26.2, 

 black rots, 169.6; by the Folin-nesslerization 

 method, seconds gave, 12.4, spots, 20.0, light rots, 

 21.5, rots, 29.9, black rots, 148.6. The amino 



nitrogen determination is of service in detecting 

 liquid and dried blood rings, spots and light rots. 

 The increase in the acidity of the fat detects spots 

 and worse grades of eggs. The ammonia methods 

 applied to herring give results indicating decom- 

 position of the fish after standing 24 hours at 

 about 70° F. Applied to clams, an appreciable 

 increase in the ammonia is shown after keeping 

 two days at a temperature of 60° F. to 65° F. 

 Factors Influencing the Quality of American Sar- 

 dines: F. C. Weber and H. W. Houghton. 

 This paper embodies some of the results of the 

 observations and studies conducted at the labora- 

 tory established by the bureau of chemistry of the 

 Department of Agriculture at Eastport, Maine, 

 during the season of 1913. It does not refer to 

 the packing of sardines in California. The chief 

 factors responsible for the lack of uniform qual- 

 ity in oil and mustard sardines packed on the 

 eastern coast are: Excessive pickling and salting, 

 which removes a large amount of protein material 

 (amino compounds), and lack of attention in se- 

 curing a uniform degree of salting. Use of fish 

 containing undigested food, particularly "red 

 feed, ' ' which is the principal cause of broken and 

 damaged fish. The steaming process, which re- 

 moves a great deal of salt and flavor from the fish. 

 Insufficient drying of the fish before packing, caus- 

 ing in the finished product a milky appearance of 

 the oil, a slight soapy taste and the fish to be too 

 soft. Variations in the composition of the fish at 

 different times of the year and from different lo- 

 calities, particularly in regard to the fat content. 

 Quantity and quality of oil used. Freezing and 

 thawing of the packed goods. Considering all the 

 possibilities, in connection with this industry, the 

 most important of which is the packing for qual- 

 ity rather than quantity, as is done at present, it is 

 believed that sardines can be produced in this 

 country that are in every respect as good as the 

 foreign sardines. 



The Composition and Nutritive Value of the Pro- 

 prietary Infant Foods: F. C. Weber and F. C. 

 Cook. 



Chemical, bacteriological and mieroehemieal ex- 

 aminations were made of 36 proprietary infant 

 foods. The nitrogenous constituents were sepa- 

 rated and analyses were made of the water extracts 

 and of the ash. The foods, prepared according 

 to the manufacturers' directions for a three-month 

 formula, were analyzed. Charts based on the 

 analyses of the foods and on the three-month for- 

 mulse were prepared and the foods classified accord- 

 ing to their composition and method of prepara- 



