REPORT OF CHEMIST. 



L, H. Merrill. 



FODDER ANALYSIS. 



With the exceptions noted below the methods used during the 

 year have been those recommended by the American Association of 

 Official Agricultural Chemists. 



Ash — Crude ash was determined b3' burning two grams of the 

 fodder at a low red heat in a platinum dish. 



Ether Extract — One gram of the air-dr}' material was extracted 

 for six hours. The extract was dried one hour at 100° and cooled 

 in a desiccator. 



Crude Fiber — Two grams were weighed into a round-bottomed 

 flask of 500 c. c. capacity, 150 c. c. of water were added and the 

 contents of the flask raised to the boiling point before the addition 

 of the acid (50 c. c. of a 5 per cent solution.) The soda solution 

 was added in a similar manner. During the boiling, the flask was 

 connected with a condenser. Both filtrations were made upon 

 linen. After the final washing with water, the fiber was transferred 

 to a Grooch crucible, washed with alcohol and ether, and dried at 

 100°. 



ARTIFICIAL DIGESTION. 



The pepsin and pancreas solutions used in the work were pre- 

 pared in the manner described in last year's report. The pepsin 

 solution was allowed to act twenty-four hours (two days of twelve 

 hours each.) The time for the pancreas digestion, however, was 

 shortened to twelve hours. It is probable that even a shorter time 

 would suffice (Stuetzer, Zeit. Phj^s. Chemie, xi. pp. 207-238,) but 

 no experiments were made to test this point. 



To ascertain the effect of reducing the time of the pepsin diges- 

 tion, samples of corn meal and white clover were treated in the 



