INSTRUMENTATION
MACHLETT
N©%? AND
Polyethylene Centrifuge Tubes
Serving laboratories the N a t i o n over with the most extensive line of polyethylene ware t o be found any where, E . M a c h l e t t & Son now announces a new Polyethylene Centrifuge T u b e . Designed t o duplicate their glass counterparts, these tubes offer all of the ad vantages associated with polyethylene ware. •
UNBREAKABLE—Withstands
•
LIGHTWEIGHT—Y2
•
CHEMICALLY
• REASONABLY E17-024
maximum centrifugal forces.
the weight of glass
INERT—highly resistant to acids, alkalies and organic solvents u p t o 140° F . PRICED—Substantial
long r u n savings
Polyethylene Centrifuge Tubes 15 ml.
$3.60 per dz. in one dz. lots $3.00 per dz. in one gr.
$2.75 per dz. in five gr. $2.50 per dz. in ten gr.
For y o u r c o n v e n i e n c e E . M a c h l e t t & S o n is offering, u p o n r e q u e s t , a c o m p r e h e n s i v e folder l i s t i n g d e t a i l e d i n f o r m a t i o n a n d prices o n t h e i r e n t i r e p o l y e t h y l e n e l i n e . A request on your company letterhead without obligation, a sample polyethylene
will bring centrifuge
you, tube.
All Prices F.O.B. New York, Ν. Ύ.
'
2ZO
Zaoom/ory
E.MACHLETT & SON
E A S T 2 3 r t / S T R E E T « N E W Y O R K ΙΟ,
APPARATUS
-
SUPPLIES
Ν.Υ.
-
CHEMICALS
For further information, circle number 42 A en Readers' Service Card, page 47 A
42 A
terested in a brief letter to the Editor of Nature [Nature, 174, No. 4427, 458 (1954)] on the flavor of porridge. The opening statement: "Nowadays, por ridge is often insipid and lacking in its traditional flavour and aroma," might well have been written by the irascible Dr. Johnson. Indeed, his dictionary defined oats as a cereal eaten in England by horses and in Scotland by men. The magnificent Scottish retort, "Aye, and where will you find such horses and such men?" may have put Dr. Johnson in his place, but apparently has not settled everything, because the Oatmeal Millers of England and Scotland are still in vestigating the physics of kilning and have, inevitably, had to consider the problem of flavor. It turns out that kiln gases, whether derived from coke or anthracite, have no effect on the flavor. The optimum "nutty" flavor is best attained "by gentle drying of the oats to an inter mediate moisture content of about 8%, followed by a short toasting for 20 min utes in a current of air at 150° C." We accept these results with interest and gratitude but venture, with becoming timidity, to suggest that the preparation of oatmeal porridge is a grossly mis understood art. If oats be cooked rapidly in a minimal amount of water and at high heat and brought practically to dryness within a minute or two, the mass will be in a form which can be "taken up," as the analyst says, in light cream or milk to provide a porridge which is not sticky, muciiagenous, or otherwise repulsive. It has a definite nutty flavor, regardless of origin or pre vious treatment. It is obvious, how ever, that the mode of preparation, though brief, requires constant atten tion. Otherwise, the system can be carbonized in a few extra seconds of neglect. An analogy is drawn in this work to the related findings in baking bread, wherein aldehydes, like furfural and pyruvic aldehyde, and melanoidins are associated with the browning of the crust and the distinctive aroma and flavor. Bread taste and flavor form another sad story; in this country we are blessed with bread which is all but imperishable. It is nutritious and well fortified. This can be guaranteed and proved, but future archeologists may discover some of our product intact and still find it as difficult to detect flavor and palatability as we do. ANALYTICAL
CHEMISTRY
