June 15, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



909 



whicli have become dry and also those 

 which are too moist for consumption. Mr. 

 E. S. Shepherd, formerly of Cornell Uni- 

 versity, has successfully used this method 

 to bring to a proper degree of moisture 

 some cigars which had become thoroughly 

 dried out. Similar results have been ob- 

 tained in this laboratory. A box about 

 three feet long, eighteen inches high, and 

 twelve inches deep was provided with three 

 shelves made of slats, so as to allow free 

 circulation of the air inside the box. Sev- 

 eral large evaporating dishes, each con- 

 taining a saturated solution of sodium 

 nitrate, and also an open box of cigars, 

 which had become thoroughly dried out, 

 were placed in this larger box. After a 

 couple of weeks the cigars were examined 

 and were pronounced by Mr. McNess, who 

 is in charge of the tobacco investigations of 

 this Bureau, as well as a number of others, 

 to be in prime condition. The vapor pres- 

 sure of saturated sodium nitrate solution 

 is slightly greater than that of the barium 

 bromide solution and will, therefore, keep 

 the cigars rather moister than the latter 

 solution. 



By the use of solutions other than those 

 which have been employed, the cigars may 

 be made drier or moister, depending upon 

 the solution employed. In this way the 

 individual tastes of the consumer may be 

 satisfied, some people preferring quite 

 moist tobacco and others preferring it quite 

 dry. By the proper choice of the solution, 

 an}'- degree of moisture in the tobacco may 

 be attained and maintained. The use of 

 solutions containing more than one salt 

 offers possibilities of all gradations be- 

 tween a very wet and a very dry tobacco. 



Experiments have been carried out in 

 this laboratory using cigar Avrapper, binder 

 and filler tobaccos. Of course, the mois- 

 ture content of these tobaccos in the proper 

 condition for manufacture is different 

 from that when the cigars are in proper 



condition for consumption. The object 

 of these experiments has been to determine 

 the proper condition under which the dif- 

 ferent cigar tobaccos must be kept prepara- 

 tory to manufacture. A series of four 

 desiccators contained different strengths of 

 sulphuric acid and weighed samples of each 



Table III. 



Change in weight and condition of cigar filler 



tobacco. 



Change in weight and condition of cigar Under 

 tobacco. 



Tabue V. 



Change in weight and condition of cigar torapper 



tobacco. 



