Van Slyke, L. L., Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y. Warner, H. J., Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. Wiley, H. W., Bureau of Chemistry, Washington, D. C. Wiley, S. W., Wiley & Hoffman, Baltimore, Md. Willard, Julius F., Agricultural Experiment Station, Manhattan, Kans. Winton, A. L., Food and Drug Inspection Laboratory, Manhattan Building, Chicago, Ill. Withers, W. A., Agricultural Experiment Station, West Raleigh, N. C. Zerban, Fritz, Agricultural Experiment Station, Audubon Park, New Orleans, La. A communication was presented from the Fertilizer Manufacturers' Association inviting the members of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists to be their guests at dinner on the evening of October 9, and the secretary was instructed to accept the invitation on behalf of the association. Letters from Atlantic City, N. J., Asbury Park, N. J., and Columbus, Ohio, inviting the association to hold the meeting of 1908 in the several localities named were also submitted and referred to the executive committee, the secretary being authorized to acknowledge the same. FOOD ADULTERATION. In the absence of Mr. Leach, referee on food adulteration, no general report on the subject was made, and the associate referees on the subject presented the subreports in the following order: REPORT ON COLORS. By E. F. LADD, Associate Referee. The referee on colors submitted two subreports by Messrs. Hortvet and Gudeman and made the following recommendations, which were presented in his behalf by the secretary: It is recommended (1) That more attention be given to the use of color standards in color work on foods by following the outline and method prepared by Mulliken in “A Method for Identification of Pure Organic Compounds," as suggested by Mr. Julius Hortvet. (2) That a more comprehensive examination of the so-called "vegetable colors," some of which it would seem are not more properly to be classed as vegetable colors than are the anilin colors, be made during the coming year. The paper submitted by Mr. Hortvet, entitled "An examination of colors used in foods or natural to foods," is to be found in the Eleventh Biennial Report of the Minnesota State Dairy and Food Commission, pages 583 to 593. The second subreport, entitled "Solubilities and extraction values of food colors," by Edward Gudeman, is to be found in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, November, 1907, volume 29, No. 11, page 1629. The report contains two tables giving the solubility and extraction values obtained on three vegetable colors and three coal-tar colors of similar shades and possessing exceptional color intensities. The following extract is made, giving the conclusions reached: Examination of these tables shows that the use of miscible solvents like methyl and ethyl alcohols and acetone are of no value for extraction purposes. Solvents of an acid-like character (ethyl acetate) are not suitable, as the results obtained are misleading, due to the effect of the solvent on the color. The solubilities of many colors in petroleum ether, carbon disulphid, carbon tetrachlorid, and chloroform is so slight that these solvents are very suitable for preliminary extraction of food products, thereby extracting oils and fats before making dyeing tests to separate the colors. Care must be exercised, as many colors are soluble in fats or oils and are liable to be extracted in such preliminary treatment. Examination of the fats or oils will show whether any color has been extracted with these. Conclusions drawn from a very large number of solubility and extraction tests, extending over a long period of time, are that the colors extracted or dissolved by many solvents under varying conditions from neutral, acid, or alkaline solutions, give no conclusive data for deciding upon the character or class of the colors themselves. The differences in solubility and in extractive values of vegetable colors, compared with coal-tar colors, are no greater nor less than the differences found between the various colors themselves belonging to the same class of colors. Comparative color intensities were also determined, and it was found that only a very limited number of vegetable colors had a color intensity equal to one-fourth that of a corresponding shade of coal-tar color, and that the largest number of vegetable colors had one-tenth or less color intensity than the corresponding coal-tar color of similar shade. In the absence of the referee on saccharine products, the following note from him was presented by the secretary: REPORT ON SACCHARINE PRODUCTS. By C. H. JONES, Associate Referee. The referee on saccharine products attempted no cooperative work this year, but has personally examined many representative samples of maple sirup and sugar from the large crop of 1907 and found them to conform to the standards already established. It would seem that with the ash test, and the determination of the lead precipitate, and the malic acid value all ordinary maple substitutes might be readily differentiated from the pure article. A few changes in the determination of the malic acid value, based on the cooperative work done in 1906, have been referred to Mr. J. K. Haywood, chairman of the committee on the revision of methods, for insertion in the methods to be adopted at this convention. REPORT ON COCOA AND COCOA PRODUCTS. E. MONROE BAILEY, Associate Referee. The associate referee on cocoa and cocoa products submitted the following methods of analysis by Winton, with the statement that with a few modifications they were the same as those employed at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, and published in the station report for 1902-3. He further suggested that the method used in the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Chemistry (Dubois's method "), be substituted for section 13, "Sugar," and recommended that these methods be adopted by the association as provisional until the referee could make a fuller report upon this subject. The methods, with the change in section 13 as suggested, are given in Bulletin 107, Revised, Methods of Analysis, page 254. DISCUSSION ON SPICES. The associate referee on spices, A. L. Winton, made no formal report, but stated that the methods for the examination of spices used at present seemed to him fairly satisfactory, and that the efforts of the association might therefore be better devoted to subjects of more pressing need. Mr. Winton further said: It has been my privilege to examine numerous shipments of spices in the warehouses of importers, where I have had an opportunity to note not only the general character of the products, but also the extent to which they have been damaged by insects. The nutmegs, known in the trade as grinding nutmegs, have been visited before shipment by some insect which, curiously enough, devours almost completely the starchy portion of the nut, but avoids the resinous veins. As a consequence, the nuts are light in weight and may be easily crushed between the fingers. Such nutmegs grind more easily than the sound product and, owing to the removal of the starchy matter, may contain a higher percentage of volatile oil; they are, however, unfit for consumption and their sale is a direct violation of the food and drugs act, on the ground that they are in whole or in part a filthy, decomposed, or putrid vegetable substance. Whole ginger during long storage is almost sure to be attacked by the drugstore beetle, which makes numerous burrows through the hands and finally converts the product almost entirely into a disgusting powder. Cayenne pepper and paprika, both before and after grinding, suffer severely from the attacks of a moth, the larva of which bores through the material and finally is transformed into the adult stage with the formation of a web. On opening a bottle of cayenne pepper which has been closed for months or even years a number of these moths will often fly out of the bottle. Mr. KEBLER. Considerable quantities of worm-eaten ginger are imported into the United States. Several samples were detained at the ports, and at the hearing it developed that the worm-eaten ginger was ground and used in the manu a J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 1907, 29: 556; U. S. Dept. Agr., Bureau of Chemistry, Bul. 107, Rev., Appendix, page 256. facture of ginger cookies and similar products. Most of the so-called Calcutta ginger is of inferior quality, being usually mixed with abnormal quantities of dirt, the ginger itself never having been cleaned. A few days ago I visited a large drug warehouse and inspected a number of deliveries of ginger, and in no case was there any material amount wormeaten. Some of the Jamaica ginger had been slightly attacked by insects, but a large lot of African ginger which had been in the warehouse over four years did not show the slightest indication of such deterioration. Mr. MCGILL. Is oil of nutmeg an article of commerce? I have not happened to find it on the Canadian market. I can conceive that nutmegs might even be increased in value for purposes of oil extraction by the removal of nonstarch matters by worms or otherwise. There are probably in attendance some persons who can give first-hand information as regards this question. Mr. KEBLER. Not only is a considerable amount of nutmeg oil itself used, but the oil obtained from the mace is also employed in the manufacture of certain commodities. FLAVORING EXTRACTS. No report was submitted by the associate referee on flavoring extracts. The following recommendation in regard to the work for next year on this subject was offered by C. S. Brinton: In view of the requirements of the new food and drugs act, and the standards adopted by the Department of Agriculture, it is necessary that we should have more definite information on this subject, especially on vanilla extracts. The standards require the soluble matter of 10 grams of vanilla beans in each 100 ce of finished extract. I therefore recommend that the associate referee on this subject for next year be instructed to investigate, and, if possible, to devise new methods for the detection of caramel, and also to investigate the composition and quantity of the soluble matters obtained from vanilla beans in preparing vanilla extract. The associate referee on cereal products, A. McGill, of Ottawa, Canada, reported that the research work he had undertaken early in the year was not yet completed, because of the new duties which he had assumed upon the death of the chief analyst of Canada, the direction of the laboratories necessitating that the investigations referred to be laid aside. REPORT ON PRESERVATIVES. By W. D. BIGELOW, Associate Referee. During the last year a question has arisen as to the applicability of the method commonly used for the detection of salicylic acid in dark colored malt liquors and other products colored dark brown by heat. It has been, claimed by manufacturers that errors have occurred because of the similarity of the color reaction with ferric chlorid and with salicylic acid. Under the circumstances it seemed advisable to investigate carefully the application of the methods for the detection of salicylic acid to such products. Samples were obtained of beer and other malt liquors manufactured from highly colored malt and of breakfast foods colored by heating to a high tem perature. These samples were examined independently by A. M. Doyle and P. B. Dunbar of the Bureau of Chemistry, neither of whom had any difficulty in detecting added salicylic acid in any of the products. It was found that on the addition of a ferric chlorid solution directly to the residue in the dish in which the ether extract was evaporated a dark red or purplish color was sometimes formed. If the dried ether residue was first dissolved in water, however, and the ferric chlorid added to the solution, no difficulty was experienced in any case. Very small amounts of salicylic acid were sometimes obscured by the color of the solution, but no color was obtained in the absence of salicylic acid which would lead the analyst to suspect its presence. A positive reaction for salicylic acid may be confirmed by the Millon reagent, which gives a light pink reaction in the absence of salicylic acid and a deep red in its presence. The ferric chlorid reaction was regarded by both observers as superior in such products to that of the Millon reagent. FORMALDEHYDE. The influence of the strength of the hydrochloric acid employed in the hydrochloric acid-ferric chlorid reagent suggested by Leach has been studied during the last year by A. V. H. Mory. It is known that the purple color given by proteids when heated with strong hydrochloric acid is a disturbing factor in the detection of formaldehyde in milk, and various methods have been adopted to avoid error or uncertainty. Some analysts have been accustomed to dilute the hydrochloric acid considerably, others to maintain a temperature sufficiently low to prevent the formation of a proteid reaction, and still others to guard against the difficulty by limiting the time of heating. In order to determine whether such dilution of the acid as would make the proportion of acid to milk a negligible quantity could be made without seriously interfering with the delicacy of the test for formaldehyde, the following dilutions of acid, each containing the specified amount of ferric chlorid, were heated to the boiling point with formaldehyde-free milk, in the proportion of two parts of the acid reagent to one of milk. This temperature and ratio were used because it is very easy to overheat, and the quantities used are generally not measured; also because excess of heat and of acid are known to be the chief sources of trouble. These mixtures were heated with stirring over a free flame in a casserole. The strongest acid gave a deep purple color, which began to develop below 70° C., and deepened quickly to a dark purple. The weakest acid gave practically no color even on boiling and after standing, while the intermediate strengths gave colors increasing regularly in depth and in purple tint with increase in acid strength. The same experiment, except that milk containing a small quantity of formaldehyde (1 in 250,000) was used, showed a marked falling off in the delicacy of the test with dilution of the acid. The general results of other experiments along this line show that if equal (measured) quantities of strong acid (sp. gr. 1.19) and milk be used and the |