Am,ji°ner'i£5arm'}  Effect  uPon  Acidity  of  Tomato  Fruits.  277 
call  glucose  "  mucilage/'  or  to  ascribe  to  it  properties  of  a  dextrose 
solution,  is  either  ignorant  or  dishonest.  So  far  as  the  use  of  glucose 
as  an  adulterant  is  concerned,  it  is  the  function  of  the  pure  food 
laws  to  protect  the  public  from  these  practices,  and  such  obviously 
are  quite  apart  from  the  legitimate  and  open  use  of  glucose,  sugar, 
or  any  other  cheap  and  wholesome  food  product  as  a  satisfactory 
substitute  for  more  expensive  ingredients,  and  the  propriety  of  such 
a  substitute  always  will  be  its  suitability  for  the  purpose  and  its  cost. 
If  legislation  is  appropriate  for  forbidding  the  extravagant  claims 
of  manufacturers  and  dealers  as  to  the  superiority  of  their  food 
products,  why  not  legislation  to  prevent  irresponsible  statements  of 
"pure  food  "  authorities  which  are  condemnatory?  Certainly,  the 
one  is  as  important  for  the  public  interest  as  the  other. 
THE  EFFECT  OF  CERTAIN  CONDITIONS  UPON  THE 
ACIDITY  OF  TOMATO  FRUITS* 
By  B.  M.  Duggar  and  M.  C.  Merrill. 
In  a  recent  communication  the  senior  author4  has  referred  to 
the  possibility  that  the  total  acid  content  of  tomato  fruits  ripened 
at  a  temperature  of  300  C,  or  above,  may  be  related  in  some  way 
to  the  failure  of  lycopersicin  development  at  that  temperature.  It 
was  determined  that  the  "  total  acidity  for  green,  ripening,  and  ripe 
fruits,  grown  under  the  same  conditions,  is  unexpectedly  uniform, 
amounting  to  0.57  to  0.58  per  cent,  citric  acid."  The  fruits  just 
referred  to  were  of  the  same  variety  picked  at  the  same  time.  The 
tests  of  acid  content  of  incubated  fruits  were  made  later  in  the 
season,  and  these  indicated  a  lower  acidity  than  that  of  normally 
green  or  ripe  fruits.  At  that  time  the  requisite  material  was  ob- 
tained from  the  Department  of  Horticulture,  Cornell  University. 
During  the  past  summer  several  varieties  of  tomatoes  were  grown 
in  the  Missouri  Botanical  Garden  in  order  to  furnish  material  for 
further  pigment  studies,  and  incidentally  this  material  has  enabled  us 
to  determine  with  greater  care  the  acid  content  of  tomato  fruits,  espe- 
cially of  different  varieties,  and  likewise  the  comparative  acidity  of 
fruits  direct  from  the  field  and  of  those  of  the  same  picking  incubated 
for  various,  intervals.  The  tests  included  below  were  made  by  pulp- 
ing thoroughly  a  weighed  quantity  of  the  tissue  (15  Gms.),  diluting 
Reprinted  from  Annals  of  the  Missouri  Botanical  Garden,  May,  1914. 
