[CONTRIBUTION
FROM TEE
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE O F TECHNOLOGY.]
REVIEW OF ANERICAN CNEMICAL RESEARCH, VOL. VII.
No. 8.
ARTHUR A. NOYES,Editor ; .4. G. WOODMAN, Associate Editor.
REVIEWERS:Analytical Chemistry, H. P. Talbot and F. J. Moore;
Biological Chemistry, A . G. Woodman ; Carbohydrates, G. W. Rolfe ; General Chemistry, A . A. Noyes ; Geological and Mineralogical Chemistry, W. 0. Crosby aud C. €1. Warren; Inorganic chemistry, Henry Fay; Metallurgical Chemistry and Assaying, H. 0. I-Iofman ; Organic Chemist r y , J. F. Norris ; Physical Chemistry, H. M. Goodwin ; Sanitary Chemistry, E. H. Richards; Industrial Chemistry, A. H. Gill and F. H. Thorp.
ANALYTICAL CHEnISTRY. P R O X I M A T E ANALYSIS. A . G. WOODMAN, REVIEWER.
A Simple Test to Distinguish Oleomargarine from Butter. BY CHARLESLATHROP PARSONS. J . Am. Chem. SOC.23, 200202.-A IOO cc. beaker is half filled with sweet milk ; this is heated to boiling and from 5 to I O grams of butter or oleomargarine added. The mixture is stirred with a wooden splinter, about the size of a match, until the fat is melted. The beaker is then placed in cold water and the milk stirred until the fat has hardened. At this point the fat, if oleomargarine, can easily be collected together into one lump by means of the rod, while if butter it will granulate and cannot be so collected. A Rapid Method for the Detection of ‘$AnilineOrange’’ in Milk. By HERMANN C. LYTHGOE. J . Am. Chem. SOC., 2 2 , 813, 814.-The presence of “aniline orange” is shown by the pink color given to the curd when hydrochloric acid is added to the milk in testing for formaldehyde by boiling with hydrochloric acid and ferric chloride. Detection of Foreign Coloring-Matter in Spirits. BY C. A. CRAMPTON AND F. D. SIMONS.J. A m . Chem. SOC., a2, 810813.-The method is based on the insolubility in ether of the coloring-matter of caramel and prune juice. The test is made by shaking the sample with ether, separating the ethereal from the watery layer, and comparing the color of the latter with the color of the original spirits by means of the tintometer. Genuine spirits gives up about 40 to 50 per cent. of its color, while spirits colored by caramel alone are entirely unaffected, the ethereal layer remaining water-white.
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Review o j American Chemical Reseavclz.
The Composition of American Wines. BY W. D. BIGELOW. U. S. Dept. Agr.,Di71.of Chewz., Bd.59, 1-76.-This bulletin contains tabulated results of analysis of all samples of American wine having a definite history or origin, a discussion of t h e interpretation to be placed on the analytical results and a description of the methods of analysis employed. Report on Food Products for 1900. BY R . TV. KILGOREA X D W. M. ALLEN. Bzdl. Ai. C. State Board of A p . ( r p o o ) , 12, I61.-Details are given of the examination of about 500 samples under the S o r t h Carolina "Pure Food Law" of 1899. Especial prominence is given to the presence of preservatives and artificial coloring-matters. The Composition of Jellies and Jams. BE: L. AI. TOLJIAN, I,.S.M w ~ s o s ,ASD 11'. D. BIGELOW. J . Anz. Chcm. SOC.,23, ?4y--3j3.-Xnalyses are given of over forty samples of fruit and h i t products of known origin. T h e determinations made include total solids, ash, total acid (as H,SO,) , proteids ( N k, 6.2j ) , reducing sugars and cane-sugar. T h e analytical methods are briefly described. Cloves. BY A. RICGILL. Caiiada h i l a n d Rcvenze Dejt., Bull. 73, ~-rq.-Twenty-eight samples of whole cloves have been examined as follows : Moisture was determined by drying t h e ground sample over sulphuric acid i?z z"acz1o for 24 hours ; t h e total volatile matter waz determined by drying the sample a t 98' C. for I S hours ; and the total extractive matter (fixed and volatile oils) was found by extraction of the dry substance with petroleum ether. From the results obtained the author is of the opinion that no sample of cloves of good quality should yield less than 14 per cent. of volatile oil when treated in the manner described. Twenty-fourth Ann. Rept. Conn. Agr. Expt. Sta. j1900), Part 11, 105-218.-This bulletin contains the results of further examination of food products under the Connecticut Pure Food Law. I n all, 1339 food samples h a r e been examined during t h e year. X detailed description is given of the methods employed in the examination of lard, olive oil, and baking-powders, together with the results of analysis of numerous sampleq. Several samplei of spring mater were also analyzed. On Heptane from Coniferous Trees. BY TY. C. B L A S D ~ L E . 1..4?12. Chcm. Soc., 23, 16~-16~.-Specimens of the exudation from fire species of coniferous trees were examined and heptane y i P.Snbiniana foiiud in two of them, P i i ~ u s J e f ~and The Complete Analysis of Feeding ilaterials. BY C. A. BROTWE,J R . , ASD C . P. BEISTLF:. J . .4m. Ch~iir.Sor. 23, 229I
AnabficaC Chemisfry.
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236.-The authors have made a detailed analysis of a sample of distillery waste and point out the errors which may result from the action of the solvents employed upon the pentosans. Malt extract and even water alone were found upon prolonged digestion to dissolve a considerable amount of pentosans. Thus the percentage of dextrin and of starch obtained in the usual method of analysis might be appreciably above the truth.
The Determination of Pentosans. BY G. S. FRAPS. Anz. Clzem. J., 25, j01-j08.-When vegetable substances are distilled with hydrochloric acid there may be formed besides furfural a substance which precipitates phloroglucinol and is destroyed by redistilling. The author uses the term ‘‘furaloid” to designate this substance. Furaloid-yielding bodies, which were found in all the materialstested, are hydrolyzed by boiling 1.25 per cent. sulphuric acid and lost in the subsequent evaporation. Furaloid is not formed by the action of hydrochloric acid on the pentose sugars. flethods of Determining Proteid Nitrogen in Vegetable flatter. BY G. s. FRAPS AND J. A. BIZZELL. ]. Am. Clzem. Soc., 22, 709-719.-The authors have made a study of the applicability of phosphotungstic acid and bromine as precipitants for the proteids of vegetable materials and reach the following conclusions : Phosphotungstic acid does not precipitate proteids completely at goo or IOO’, but at 60’ precipitates (at least in the case of vegetable materials) very nearly the same amount of nitrogen as copper hydroxide. Bromine is not a suitable precipitant for proteids in vegetable materials and extraction of the proteids with hot water does not always give concordant results. T h e method open to the fewest objections seems to be the method proposed by Stutzer (1. f. Landw., 28, IO^), which is the one in general use. Loss of Sulphur in Preparing Ash of Plants. BY G. S. FRAPS. f. Am. Chem. Soc., 23, 199, 2oo.-The amount of sulphur was determined in a variety of plants by two methods : a . I O grams were burned to an ash at the lowest possible temperature, and the sulphur determined in it. 6. I O grams substance were burned with the addition of 2 0 cc. of a solution of calcium acetate (29.2 grams per liter). The sulphur obtained by a was from 4 to IOO per cent. less than that found by 6. I t was not determined whether or not all the sulphur was retained by the calcium acetate. A Method for the Determination of the Availability of Organic Nitrogen in Commercial Fertilizers. BY J O H N PHILLIPS STREET. J . A m . Clzenz. Soc., 23, 330-338.-An amount of material equivalent to 0.075 gram of nitrogen is weighed into a 500 cc. Erlenmeyer flask, IOO cc. of neutral 1.6 per cent. potas-
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Review af Americaii Chemical Research.
sium permanganate added, and the mixture digested on the steambath for twenty minutes with occasional shaking. The solution is filtered and washed with 12 j to I j o cc. of water. T h e nitrogen in the undigested residue is deterrnitiecl by the usual Kjeldahl process. Tests on a considerable variety of fertilizers show that the method places them in about the same rank as that assigned by vegetation tests and agricultural experience.
The Chemical Composition of llaryland Soils. BY E'. P. T-EITCH. M d . Agr. EXpt. Stn. Bull., 7 0 , 64-114. Paraffine as a Substitute for Ether in the Preparation of Extract of N u x Vomica, U. S. P. HI-FERDIXAKD A. SIEKER. Pharn2. Rev. 19,j6-6 I .-Paraffine is preferred to ether because it is cheaper, is not dangerously inflammable, and can be easily separated after congealing : it separates practically ererything that ether separates, as well as an insoluble brown substance that ether does not separate. ~
The Accurate neasurement of Tints and Shades of Colors. is a description of the construction and manner of using the xellknown Lovibond tintometer.
BY OSTVALDSCHREINER.Phawz. Res>. 19, 61-66.-This
The Detection of Methyl Alcohol in Pharmaceutical Preparations. BY F E R D I X s N D Lq.S I E K h R . PhaV9?2. Rev., I?, .I! j - 1 2 0 . T h e author employs the well known method of oxidizing a part of the alcohol vapor by a hot oxidized copper spiral. T h e presence of methyl alcohol is shown by the odor of formic aldehyde. The Specific Gravity Tables of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. BY A. B.LYONS. Pharm. R e v . , 19, 101-107.--ll'he author criticizes the lack of unity of plan of the tables as arranged at present and submits two tables, one of the strength of hydrochloric acid of different densities and the other a specific gravity table for glycerine, as models for future tables of this kind. The Assay of Coca. BY W I L t I m R. LAMAR. Am. J . Pha;lw., 73, 12 j-131 .-The author expresses the opinion that the discordant results in the assays previously published are due to the extreme instability of the alkaloids accompanying coca. For this reason any excess of strong alkali must be avoided and the strength of acid eniployed for removing the alkaloids from the menstruum must be carefully regulated. Kerosene oil is recommended as the best medium for the exhaustion of coca and detailed directions are given for the carrying out of the assay. It is concluded that the coca leaf, to be of good quality, should assay by the process described about 0.7 per cent. of total alkaloids.
Organic Chemistry.
123
Assay of Crude Drugs. BY H. M. GORBIN. A m . 1. Phann., 73, I 59-168 : 2 1 1--2zo.-The author considers that a standard method for the assay of a given drug should be one in which the exhaustion is so complete that no alkaloid can be found in 5 grams of the dregs and further that the operations involved should be such as are not liable to injure the alkaloid in question. This question ef a standard method has been worked out for some of the more important medicinal drugs. The Assay of Belladonna Root and Its Solid Extract. BY ARTHURWAYNECLARK. A m . J . Phavm., 73, 22--2g.-The essential feature of the method described consists in hot extraction of the drug, using a return-flow condenser. Consequently there is little resinous material extracted and the subsequent "shakingout " is rendered easier. T h e process of assay is minutely described. Adulterations of Essential Oils. BY GEO. R. PANCOAST AND LYMAN F. KEBLER. A m . J . Pharm., 73, I-Io.-The authors give a list of a number of essential oils with the adulterants usually found in them, together with a brief summary of the methods for their detection. Thymoquinone in Wild Bergamot Oil. BY I. W. BRAKDEL E. KREMERS. Pharm. Rev., 19,20~-203.-Tkymoquinone has been found in wild bergamot oil (Moxarda$stulosu L . ), probably the first case in which this has been isolated from a volatile oil. The suggestion is made that the increased color of the oil on standing is due to the formation of colored derivatives of fnymoquinone. Hydrothymoquinone in Wild Bergamot Oil. BY I. W. BRANDELA N D E. KREMERS. Pharm. Rev., 19,244-246.-The substance melting at I~o', previously reported by the authors as occurring in Monarda$stulosa L . , has been identified as hydrothymoquinone. AND
ORGAN IC CH En ISTRY. J. F. NORRIS, REVIEWER.
Orthophenylsulphonebenzoic Acid and Related Compounds. BY HALLCANTER. A m . Chem. J . , 25, 56-1 10.-0-Tolylphenylsulphone (m. p. 68'), prepared by means of the Friedel and Crafts reaction from o-toluenesulphone chloride, was oxidized to o-phenylsulphonebenzoic acid. The acid is anhydrous and melts a t 267'-268'. Graebe and Schulteiss, who claim to have made this compound by treating phenylthiosalicylic acid with strong nitric acid, state that it contains one molecule of water of crystallization and that it melts at gg' when hydrated and at I 52' after being heated at 105'. The barium, magnesium, calcium, stron-
