July 9, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



67 



NEW OBLEANS MEETING— AMERICAN 

 CHEMICAL SOCIETY— II 



DIVISION OP FEBTILIZEE CHEMISTST 



J. E. Breekenridge, chairman 

 F. B. Carpenter, secretary 



J. E. Beeckeneidge : The Availability of Organic 

 Nitrogen. 



H. C. MooEE: Sesults of Some Cooperative WorTc 

 on Determination of Sulfur in Pyrites. Some 

 Observations on Details of Manipulation, 

 Sources of Error and on Barium Sulfate as Pre- 

 cipitated Under Different Conditions. 



r. E. Pembee and B. L. Habtwell: The Activity 

 and Availability of Insoluble Nitrogen in Fer- 

 tilisers Determined by Chemical and Vegetation 

 Tests. 



F. W. Zeeban: Fertilizers for Field Crops in the 

 South, west of Alabama. (Lantern.) 



B. B. Eoss: The Determination of Potash in Fer- 

 tilisers. 



G. S. FRAPS: Effect of Lime and Limestone upon 

 Acid Phosphate. 



BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTET DIVISION 



Carl L. Alsberg, chairman 

 I. K. Phelps, secretary 



C. L. Alsbeeg: The Control of Cotton-seed Prod- 

 ucts. 



There is great economic waste due to deteriora- 

 tion of cotton seed. This deterioration is due to 

 the storage of much of the seed in presence of 

 moisture. Tliis excess of moisture leads first to 

 loss of substance by respiration, then by fermen- 

 tation and heating. Both respiration and spoil- 

 age affect particularly the oil, as they are accom- 

 panied by saponification and the formation of un- 

 saturated fatty acids of low molecular weight. 

 Too little attention has also been paid in the 

 traffic in seed to the relative proportion of oil, 

 hull, protein and moisture in the seed. In order 

 that this waste be avoided seed should be dealt in 

 on the basis of content of moisture, oil and hull 

 content. Quality, in other words, should determine 

 its sale. This can only be accomplished by more 

 careful grading, and by purchase on the basis of 

 the grades. 

 C. C. Bass: Emetin a Specific Bemedy for Alveo- 



lodental Pyorrhea. 



Recent investigation has shown that an ameba, 

 Endameba buccalis, is present in all lesions of 

 alveolodental pyorrhea. There ia abundant evi- 

 dence indicating that this parasite is the specific 

 cause of the disease. The endamebse are in the 

 very bottom of the pyorrhea pocket and burrow 



to some extent into the diseased tissue in search 

 of certain cells which are the food of the parasite. 



Emetin is so antagonistic to amebse that it de- 

 stroys most or all the endamebee in a large per- 

 centage of cases, whenever given in the doses in 

 which the present form may be employed — hydro- 

 chloride. In a considerable percentage of cases 

 failure is met. The object of this paper is to 

 make the suggestion that some other form of 

 emetin may be prepared which can be used in 

 larger doses, will cause less local irritation where 

 injected, or perhaps may be more amebicidal than 

 the hydrochloride. 

 Chas. Mann: Saw Palmetto, a Biochemical Study. 



The prime object of this investigation was to 

 ascertain the facts relating to the formation of 

 the so-called volatile oil in the fruit. The basis 

 for this part of the investigation was laid by two 

 experiments made by Professor J. U. Lloyd, one 

 made in 1890, and the other started in 1890 but 

 not completed until 1900. 



The laboratory experiments have clearly demon- 

 strated that the ethyl esters of the fatty acids, 

 found in the berries both free and as glycerides, 

 are not the product of biochemical processes of the 

 plant, but are products formed after the fruits 

 have been separated from the plant and have been 

 preserved in a peculiar manner. It has also been 

 demonstrated that the enzymes found in the fruit 

 are not necessary to explain the formation of 

 these esters which result by condensation without 

 the intervention of enzyme or other so-called cata- 

 lytic agent. 



Most, if not all, of the other experiments grew 

 out of this central problem. It is hoped that the 

 manuscript will soon be published as one of the 

 bulletins of the University of Wisconsin. 

 Emeeson E. Miller and Jemison Mims Moslet: 



Volatile Oils of Some Species of Solidago. 



Solidago rugosa Mill. The fresh flowering herb 

 yielded 0.4 per cent, of oil which distilled mainly 

 below 165°. Probably composed chiefly of the 

 dextro- and levo-rotatory forms of a-pinene with 

 smaller amounts of two other terpenes. 



Solidago odora Aif. Average yield from the 

 fresh flowering herb, 1.24 per cent, of oil. The 

 chief interest here centers in the methyl chavicol 

 which constitutes about 75 per cent, of the oil. 

 Other constituents are: terpenes, 10-15 per cent.; 

 esters, about 3 per cent, calculated as bornyl ace- 

 tate; borneol and probably another alcohol, the 

 total free alcohol being about 3 per cent., calcu- 

 lated as borneol; a small amount of volatile fatty 

 acids, at least three; a small amount of non-vola- 

 tile acid. 



