554 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



etc., which have a different composition from the albuminoids, 

 and doubtless a much lower value in nutrition. 



Nitrogenous Constituents of Beets, Mangolds, and Potatoes. 



Schulze and Urich find beet-roots to contain, besides albu- 

 men, betain and a substance like aspargin, the quantity of 

 amides being greater than the albuminoids. The juice of 

 mangolds contained albuminoids, nitrates, betain, and the 

 ammonium salts of glutamic and aspartic acids. 



The same chemists found the nitrogen in potatoes to exist 

 in part as albumen, and in part as aspargin, solan in, and 

 other amides; 37.2 per cent, was in the form of coagulable 

 albuminoids; about half, 56 per cent., existed in non-albumi- 

 noid forms (Landw. Vs.-tSt., xx., 193, and xxi., 03). 



Nitrogen Compounds in the Cereals. 



The cereals also contain a considerable proportion of nitro- 

 gen in other forms than albuminoids. Wisrner has investi- 



O CI? 



gated the nitrogenous constituents of wheat, barley, and oats. 

 The meal, bran, or flour was treated with a solution of carbol- 

 ic acid faintly acidulated with nitric acid, which coagulates 

 soluble albuminoids, and, after warming, standing, and filter- 

 ing, was washed with a carbolic-acid solution, dried, and the 

 nitrosren determined. This nnextracted material is assumed 

 to contain all the true albuminoids. The author concludes 

 that of the nitrogenous compounds of the cereals, the non- 

 albuminoids make up from 15 to 20 per cent, of the whole. 

 As to the nature of these non-coagulated compounds, all that 

 can be said is that nitrates, nitrites, some alkaloid, and gluten 

 are present. 



It is interesting to note that a very large proportion of 

 these non-coao;ulable materials is stored in the exterior of the 



Cj 



grain. In fifteen samples of wheat the " true gluten " formed 



from 10 to 95 per cent, of the whole nitrogenous matter, 



while in brans from the same w T heat it was from 42 to 88 per 



cent. 



Application in Estimating' Feeding Values. 



What the nutritive values are of the amides and other 

 non-albuminoid nitrogenous compounds in plants is not yet 

 determined. They may have a value akin to gelatin, which, 

 though it cannot take the place of albumen or fibrin in mi- 





