NOTES ON COCONUT, COPRA, AND COCONUT OIL. 115 



flasks. The samples were then titrated at various intervals with _ potassium 



10 

 hydroxide, the result being given in cubic centimeters required to neutralize: 



Cubic 

 Time. centimeters. 



At once 13.5 



1 day 12.0 



2 days 12.2 



7 days . 13.8 



8 days 18.5 



Cultures made at the end of the last period showed the presence of molds and 

 bacteria. 



(6) One hundred grams of meat from the same nuts as were used in (a) 



were ground with 75 cubic centimeters of fresh coconut oil, 75 of water and 1 



of chloral; 25 cubic centimeters of the strained emulsion required the following 



N 

 amounts of — potassium hydroxide for neutralization : 



10 ^ 



Cubic 

 Time. centimeters. 



At once 10.0 



1 day 11.0 



2 days 11.5 



7 days 24.0 



8 days 27.5 



Cultures made at the end of eight days showed that the flasks were no 

 longer sterile; they had all become slightly discolored at this time and 

 in some cases possessed a bad odor. The slight increase in acidity in 

 this comparatively long term must therefore be attributed to the actions 

 of organisms, not to enzymes. 



ATTEMPTS TO KENDEK AN ENZYME ACTIVE. 



Connstein, Iloyer and Wartenberg,- working with lipase from the 

 castor bean, have shown that its rapidity of action is greatly increased by 

 the addition of a small amount of acid. The following experiments were 

 made to discover if this might not likewise render active any enzyme of 

 the coconut which might be present. 



COCONUT FOOT AND COCONUT OIL WITH HYDROCHLORIC ACID. 



Experiment VII. — (a) Fifty grams of the foot from a nut witli sprout about 

 1 meter long were shaved into fine pieces and ground in a mortar, first witli 2 

 grams of chloral hydrate, then with 50 grams of fresh coconut oil and finally with 



25 cubic centimeters of hydrochloric acid. Ten cubic centimeter portions of 



10 ■ ' 



-Ser. d. Chem. Ges. (1002), 35, 3988. 



