224 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 



external atmosphere by evaporation and also to 

 internal rearrangement. The yolk absorbs water 

 from the white. This change increases with the 

 temperature and time, and when carefully meas- 

 ured it becomes a good index of the condition and 

 probable age of the egg. By test experiments on 

 a uniform lot of eggs, held at a constant tempera- 

 ture and analyzed at short intervals of time, the 

 rate of change of moisture content can be deter- 

 mined and plotted and by means of the subsequent 

 formula derived, the condition of any lot of eggs 

 can be predicted from the first analysis for any 

 given date within the holding period. 



By a further extension of the work now in 

 progress it is hoped that the age and past history 

 of the egg can be deciphered from a determina- 

 tion of the percentage and relative distribution of 

 the moisture. 

 The Oxidation of Chicken Fat with Sydrogen 



Peroxide: J. S. Hepbuen. 



When light, air, heat and enzymes act on fats 

 and oils, the various constants undergo changes; 

 and an increase in saponification number is usu- 

 ally accompanied by a decrease in Hehner number, 

 and vice versa. This phenomenon is due chiefly 

 to the oxidation of the unsaturated acids at the 

 double bonds. However, when chickens are kept 

 hard frozen, both the saponification number and 

 the Hehner number experience simultaneous change 

 in the same direction. Thus nine analyses give a 

 mean saponification number 172.9 and a mean 

 Hehner number 81.27 for fresh roasters, while 

 three analyses of undrawn roasters, kept hard 

 frozen for 16 months, give a mean saponification 

 number 194.9 and a mean Hehner number 91.67; 

 the two constants have increased at the same time. 

 This species of fat decomposition must be due to 

 oxidation of the carbon chain at or near the ter- 

 minal carbon atoms. The recent work of Dakin 

 upon the oxidation of saturated fatty acids by 

 means of hydrogen peroxide, led to the present 

 research. 



Fat was extracted from chickens and analyzed. 

 The extracted fat was heated on the water-bath 

 for seven hours with three per cent, solution of 

 hydrogen peroxide — six molecules of peroxide were 

 used for each molecule of fat; the fat was then 

 separated from the aqueous layer, washed free 

 from peroxide with boiling water, filtered through 

 paper and analyzed. The acidity always became 

 higher; the iodine number usually decreased, 

 though it occasionally increased. The saponifica- 

 tion number and the Hehner number almost in- 

 variably increased simultaneously, hence dilute 



hydrogen peroxide at the temperature of the 

 water-bath produces in chicken fat the same 

 change as occurs in that fat in situ while hard 

 frozen. 



When oleic acid and stearic acid were oxidized 

 in this manner, their saponification number de- 

 creased. This change is similar to that undergone 

 by the fat of chickens kept hard frozen for periods 

 of four months, at the end of which time both 

 the saponification number and the Hehner number 

 are lower than in the fat of fresh birds. 



Betection and Bole played iy Polyatomic Phenols 

 occurring in Apples as Glucosides: H. P. Bas- 



SETT. 



In apples there is a glucoside resembling phlo- 

 ridzin. There is present also an enzyme which 

 hydrolyzes it, liberating a polyatomic phenole. 

 From the phenole by the action of an oxidizing 

 enzyme a phlobaphene is formed. This oxidase 

 reaction renders the fluid germicidal. It is sug- 

 gested that this has a protective value for the 

 fruit. 



Observations on the Deterioration of Maize and 

 Improvements in the Methods of Detecting it: 

 O. F. Black and C. L. Alsbeeg. 



An Incubator for Moderate Temperatures: A. M. 



Buswell and Ralph H. McKee. 



The incubator uses, without the aid of a relay, 

 a 110-volt alternating current for the heating and 

 the regulation of the current. The expanding 

 liquid of the regulator is alcohol, the capillary 

 XJ-tube outlet being filled with mercury. Five 

 wires are sealed into the capillary tube and the 

 resistances attached so that the voltage drop, as 

 the mercury passes a sealed-in wire, will be but 

 twenty volts. This is below the arcing voltage 

 and consequently no carbonization occurs and 

 practically no gas is formed by the make and 

 break. The lights used for heating are in series 

 with the mercury and such resistances as are 

 pushed in by the expanding alcohol. Without 

 attention the incubator kept between 36.5° and 

 37.5° for two months. 



The Absorption of Inorganic Salts by Living Pro- 

 toplasm: W. J. V. OSTEEHOUT. 



Carbohydrate Esters of the Higher Fatty Acids: 



Waltee B. Blooe. 



Esters of mannitol with stearic acid were pre- 

 pared and their properties described. One of them 

 was fed to animals. It was found that about 50 

 per cent, was absorbed. 



{To be continued) 



