6o4  News  Items  and  Personal  Notes.       \  lulnJ^i^gTo. 
water  after  caramelization,  as  in  the  preparation  of  cakes,  frostings, 
and  rice  pudding.  In  candy-making  the  cooking  should  be  con- 
ducted at  as  low  a  temperature  as  possible,  since  the  yield  of  furfural 
increases  with  the  temperature.  Care  should  be  taken  to  prevent 
caramelization  in  the  baking  of  fruits;  it  is  desirable  to  boil  caramel- 
ized fruit  syrups  with  an  equal  volume  of  water  for  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes  before  serving  them. — (From  Jour.  Franklin  Institute 
May,  1920.) 
ProsoIv,  a  Nkw  Ketone. — While  engaged  in  an  exhaustive 
examination  of  the  grain  of  the  proso  (Russian)  millet,  with  a  view 
to  determine  its  adaptability  as  a  breadstuff  and  its  possibilities  as  a 
food  crop  for  the  South  Dakota  west-of-the-river  country.  Professors 
B.  A.  Dunbar  and  B.  R.  Binnewies,  of  the  chemistry  department  of 
State  college,  discovered  an  alcohol-ketone  by-product  which  so  far 
as  they  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  has  not  been  discussed  in  the 
literature  pertaining  to  plant  products.  The  product,  pending  its 
further  examination,  has  been  named  "prosol." 
The  new  alcohol  is  a  most  peculiar  one,  being  one  of  those  which 
are  insoluble  in  water.  The  tentative  molecular  formula  C24H36O2 
has  been  assigned  to  the  product. 
The  grain  upon  which  the  study  was  based  was  raised  upon  the 
State  college  farms  from  specially  selected  white  seed  derived  by 
selection  from  mother  seed  obtained  in  Russia  by  Dr.  N.  E.  Hansen. 
{Journal  oj  the  American  Chemical  Society,  March.) 
NEWS  ITEMS  AND  PERSONAL  NOTES. 
The  Nation ai.  Research  CounciIv. — The  National  Research 
Council  has  elected  the  following  officers  for  the  year  commencing 
July  I :  Chairman,  H.  A.  Bumstead,  professor  of  physics  and 
director  of  the  Sloans  Physical  Laboratory,  Yale  University;  First 
Vice-Chairman,  CD.  Walcott,  president  of  the  National  Academy 
of  Sciences  and  secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution;  Second 
Vice-Chairman,  Gano  Dunn,  president  of  the  J.  G.  White  Engineer- 
ing Corporation,  New  York;  Third  Vice-Chairman,  R.  A.  Millikan, 
professor  of  physics,  University  of  Chicago;  Permanent  Secretary, 
Vernon  Kellogg,  professor  of  biology,  Stanford  University;  Treasurer, 
F.  L.  Ransome,  treasurer  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences. 
