50 The Philippine Journal of Science v»vt 



and several small ones are now being erected or planned. The 

 work of the Bureau of Science has been done from time to time 

 in order to settle some special problem, and all of it has been 

 beneficial in pointing the way to more extended problems. The 

 studies by Walker 8 on the keeping qualities of coconut oil and 

 the causes of its rancidity and notes on the sprouting coconut, 

 on copra, and on coconut oil have been very helpful to the public, 

 and his papers have been in great demand. For several years 

 we have endeavored to find time to continue and extend this 

 work and to accumulate information with regard to the com- 

 position of the coconut, the hydrolysis and consequent destruc- 

 tion of fat, the methods of drying, the methods for the most 

 effective recovery of the oil, the. methods of analysis, the detec- 

 tion of adulterants of coconut oil and of coconut oil as an 

 adulterant of other oils, and the reduction to a minimum of 

 the loss through deterioration of copra and coconut oil during 

 transportation. Data showing the composition of many Phil- 

 ippine soils have been published, and some of these concern 

 the soils from the best coconut areas. 



In recent years I have been impressed by the large loss of 

 coconut oil through spoilage and the unearned revenue that 

 the Philippine Islands would secure if all the copra produced 

 were of a high grade. Furthermore there is a loss in shipping 

 poorly cured copra, not only in the deterioration due to mold 

 and bacterial action, but also in the transportation of the excess 

 moisture. 



The work begun by Dr. Paul C. Freer and by Mr. H. S. Walker 

 has been continued by Dr. Harvey C. Brill and Mr. Harrison 

 0. Parker, the botanical work being done by Dr. Harry S. Yates. 



In California large quantities of deciduous fruits are opened, 

 treated with sulphur dioxide (the fumes of burning sulphur) 

 to protect them from bacterial or mold action, and subsequently 

 dried. The action of sulphur dioxide is to kill all mold spores 

 and to soften the cell walls of the fruit so that drying is facili- 

 tated. Enough of the sulphur dioxide remains in the meat to 

 prevent the growth of new mold spores during drying, if drying is 

 completed in a week or two. 



We have successfully applied this method to the drying of 

 coconut meat. Coconuts opened and treated with the fumes 

 of burning sulphur at the Bureau of Science during a severe 

 rainstorm, which subsequently received no artificial drying or 

 exposure to the sunshine, remained perfectly white for a period 



' Loc. cit. 



