24 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. VII, No. i 
before the hydrolysis, is present, apparently as a result of the hydrolysis 
of some lipoid substance in the presence of hydrochloric acid as a catalyst. 
The glycerol can not be quantitatively removed without the removal of 
some sugar. Precipitation with normal lead acetate, with ferric salts, or 
with other ordinarily used precipitants does not completely free the 
hydrolysate from nonsugar constituents which combine with the copper 
of Fehling’s solution. In consequence, the determinations for sugar in 
this fraction are uniformly high. While devoid of absolute quantitative 
value, they were made under identical conditions and, hence, have a 
certain comparative value. 
RESULTS OF THE ANALYSES 
COMPOSITION OF THE FRUITS USED 
Prior to the discussion of the analytical results, it is pertinent to 
present data upon the composition of the apples used, which differ 
somewhat widely from those given by other investigators. The only 
analyses of Red Astrachan apples found in the literature are those made 
by Browne (i, 2) and Jones and Colver (7). Browne analyzed fruit 
grown at State College, Pa., while Jones and Colver analyzed two sam¬ 
ples, one grown under irrigation and the other without irrigation, from 
unknown localities in Idaho. The data presented in Table I show that 
the apples employed in this work were somewhat lower in solids and 
reducing sugar, while higher in acid, in disaccharids expressed as cane 
sugar, and in insoluble residue than were those analyzed by the authors 
named. These differences are due in part to differences in the degree 
of maturity of the fruits used, in part to the very different climatic con¬ 
ditions under which the samples were grown, and in part to the use of 
varying methods of analysis. The apples used were taken prior to the 
beginning of the rapid digestion of carbohydrates attendant upon ripen¬ 
ing, as attested by the presence of small quantities of starch, and the 
differences between normal and decayed fruits which appear in the 
results are those consequent upon the activities of the fungus. 
MOISTURE LOSSES CONSEQUENT UPON ATTACK BY THE FUNGUS 
The moisture content of the normal and the diseased fruits taken for 
analysis was determined by drying weighed portions of the finely ground 
and uniformly mixed masses of pulp, from which samples for analysis 
were subsequently taken, in an oven at 105° C. until constant weight 
was obtained. The writers are aware that the use of this method in¬ 
volves some error as a result of the decomposition of the sugars of the 
fruit, particularly of the levulose, as has been shown by Browne (2), but 
the fact that no vacuum drying apparatus was available rendered its 
use imperative. 
In order to gain some idea of the magnitude of the constant and in¬ 
creasingly rapid loss of weight which accompanies decay, a number of 
