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i n g alone without fusion or chemical reaction, the Acheson graphitizing furnaces are considered, the efficiency here being 75 per cent. As an example of simple heating with fusion, the Jacobs' process of fusing alumina to make artificial corundum is taken, the efficiency calculated being 74 per cent. As an example of heating with chemical change, but without fusion, the 1000 horse-power carborundnm furnaces are taken, which calculate up 76. j per cent. efficiency. As an example of heating to fusion, with chemical reaction, the production of calcium carbide shows a calculated efficiency of 62 per cent. The electrolytic decomposition of a fused salt was illustrated by calculations on one of the Acker process pots, where 8000 amperes pass through melted sodium chloride, the efficiency being 63 per cent. Of the total heat generated by the resistance of the electrolyte, onefifth is utilized for melting the fresh salt added and four-fifths is radiated. J. W. RICHARDS. Voltaic Cells w i t h F u s e d Electrolytes. BY E. A. BTRNES. Trans. A m . Elec. Chent. Soc., Vol. II., 1902.-An account of numerous voltaic couples used in fused salts, such as various metals with graphite, in melted caustic soda. The voltages observed were up to 2.3 volts. Compound cells were built up of nitre in a porous cup, with caustic soda outside. T h e results of 33 measiirernents of electromotive forces are given. In the discussion, some took the position that such cells were largely electrothermic in their action, i. e., more electrothermic than electrochemical as regards their electromotive force. J. W. RICHARDS. F u e l Oil. BY W. W. REEDWEST. Elecfrician, 30, 302-3.This gives a description of the experience of the Houston Lighting and Power Co. The oil is kept in brick underground storage tanks where it is heated in cold weather ; hence it is pumped to small receivers whence it is forced to the burners. It is found that I ton of soft coal is equivalent to 2'/, to 4 barrels (320 pounds each) of oil : on four d fferent burners, tests at the switchboard showed 0.57 j to 0.7 13 gallon oil per kilowatt-hour. On two Babcock and Wilcox boilers, tests showed 13.48 pounds, and 14.7 pounds of water, from and at 212' per pound, of oil as against 7.43 pounds per pound of coal. Where oil has been properly used no evidence nf injury to the boiler has been found. A. H. GILL. AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY. S i l a g e S t u d i e s . BY F. W. MORSE. N . N.Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. N o . 92, pp. 49-62.-Analyses of Sanford corn at different stages
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Review of American Chemical Research.
of growth showed that while the greatest yield of fodder was obtained by cutting the corn when in full blooni, the greatest yield of food constituents was secured by cutting when the ears were a t the roasting stage. Thickness of seeding had but little effect upon the composition of the fodder. Tests of the feeding value of silage prepared from Sanford, Leaming, and Mosby Prolific corn, carried out with several groups of cows during two winters, indicated that as regards milk production the three kinds of silage rank in value iti the order mentioned. Analyses showed a decrease in the quantity of food constituents i n the same order. Analyses of green fodder and of the silage made from it showed that changes in composition were confined almost exclusively to the sugars, which were practically destroyed. H. W.LAWSON. Chemical Changes in Apples During Storage. BY F. W. MORSE. N.N.Agr. Exjt. S t a . Bull. A'o. 9 3 , pp. S2-8 j.--Apples were kept in a cool cellar one season and in cold storage two seasons, and determinations were made at frequent intervals of total and invert sugar and of acid in the sound fruit. T h e author summarizes the 'results as showing that chemical changes independent of decay take place within the apple and that these changes are retarded by low temperatures and hastened by high temperatures. Other parts of the bulletin deal with cold storage of apples from H . W.LAWSOX. different standpoints. Methods for the Estimation of the Proteolytic Compounds Contained in Cheese and Milk. BY L. L. VAS SLI'KEA N D E. B. HART. A? Y.State Agy. &.rpt. Sta Bd1. Are. 215,pp. 81-102. --This bulletin gives in detail methods for the separation and estimation of the nitrogen compounds of cheese and milk and for the determination of chloroform used as an antiseptic in these products. These methods were employed in an extended study of the enzymes in cheese reported by L. L. Tan Slyke, H . A. Harding, and E. B. Hart in Bulletin 203 of this station. H. \TT. 14.4\vS0s. The Feeding Value of Beet Pulp. BY B. C. EUFFCMASD C. J. GRIFFITH. Colo. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. No. 73?pp. 3T~o.Information, mainly compiled, is given on the composition of sugar-beet pulp and its feeding value. Part I1 of the bulletin reports a feeding experiment with cows to test the value of pulp H . 11.. LAWSON. and sugar-beets. The Chemical Composition of Insecticides and Fungicides. BY J . K. HAYWOOD.U. S . Dept. Agy.,Bureau of Chenz. Bzdl. No. 68, pp. 62.-Of about 300 samples of insecticides and fungicides collected by the Division of Entomology, 156 samples, con-
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sidered as representing fairly the present state of the market in the United States, were selected for analysis. These included fortyfive samples of Paris green, eleven of London purple, ten of soap, nine of hellebore, ten of pyrethrum, fourteen of mixtures containing borax, five of roach pastes, four of tobacco extracts, and one each of forty-six other preparations. The results of analysis are given together with the methods used, and show according to the author that there are many insecticides on the market which are nearly worthless, and many for which a very exorbitant price is paid that could just as easily be prepared at H. W. LAWSON. home.” Alkali. BY J. D. TINSLEY.N.Mex. Agr. Expt. S f a . Bull. No. 4 2 , pp. 31 .-A popular presentation of information on alkali, i t s composition, origin, accumulation, and removal, with special reference to conditions existing in the Pecos Valley. H. W. LAWSON. Drainage and Flooding for the Removal of Alkali.
BY J. D.
TINSLEY.N.M e x . Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. No. 4 3 , pp. 29.-A practical test was made of underdraining and flooding for the improvement of alkali lands. A minimum accumulation of alkali w a s found in the soil under investigation when the water table was at a depth of 6 inches or less, and a maximum accumulation when the water table was at a depth of about 2 feet. About oneseventh of the total alkali i n the first 2 feet of soil was removed b y ten floodings and a large amount was carried down from the first foot into the second. H. W. LAWSON. Clover as a Fertilizer. BY W. SAUNDERS A N D F. T. SHUTT. Canada Cetit. Expt. Farm Bull. No. 40, pp. 23.-A general discussion on the value of clover for green manuring, including the results of numerous experiments. H. W. LAWSON. Fertilizers. Ky. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. No. 102 ; 1Md. Agr. College Quart. Nos. 16, 17 ; Mass. Agr. Ex@. Sfa. Bulls. Nos. 83 and 84 ; Me. Agr. Ex$&.Sfa. Bull. No. 85 ; Mich. Agr. Expt. S&a.Bull. No. 202, Rep,, 1901, pp. 91-131 ; Bull. N . C. State Bd. Agr., 2 3 , N o . 6 ; N . J . Agr. Expt. Sta. Rep., 1901, pp. 17-77 ; N. Y. Sfafe Agr. Expt. Sfa. Bull. No. 216; Pa. Dept. Agr. Bull. N o . IOI ; R. Z. Agr. Expt. Sfa. Bull. No. 85 ; S . C. Agr. Expt. Sia. Bull. N o . 70 ; Vt. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. No. 93. Feeding Stuffs. Mass. Agr. Expt. Sta. R e p . , 1901,pp. 148193 ; N . 1.Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. No. 160, Rep. 1901, pp. 78-136 ; Vt. Agr. Expf. Sta. Bull. N o . 97. Compilation of Analyses of Fruits, Garden Crops, and Insecticides. BY H. D. HASKINS.Mass. Agr. Expt. Sta Rep., 1901, PP. 132-147.
