SEPTfiMBM J, 1885,3 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



167 



iu the Government Laboratory, Paris, of which the Pro- 

 fessor is chief. The process consist mainly in an alkal- 

 ine treatment imder conditions which vary with the 

 character of the rhca fibre to be treated. A mo.st im- 

 portant factor in the success of Freniy-Urbain process, 

 and that which I regard as the crowning feature of the 

 whole, is the special treatment of the fibre. Tlu-ough- 

 out the whole process there is not one stage to which 1 

 exception can be takaa on the score of danger to the 

 ultimate fibre, whilst there is on the other hand, a 

 perfect harmony of arrangement and sequence of develop- 

 ment. 



It is unnecessary for me here to enter into all details 

 of the operations as witnessed by me, and as fully and 

 unreservedly explained to me by Professor Fremy. Suffice 

 it to say that upon one occasion I saw about 800 lb. of 

 ribbons treated at Louviers, and upon a second occasion 

 about half a hundredweight. 



■\Vith regard to the question of dyed yarns, I may 

 point) out that it is essential, in order to take dyes, that 

 the article to be dyed shall be chemically pure. I re- 

 ceived Professor Fremy's emphatic assurance that there 

 is nothing whatever in either the Fravier or Fremy-Urbaiu 

 processes which militates against this purity. The Pro- 

 fessor, moreover, has a formula by which the purity or 

 otherwise of the material to be dyed can be readily 

 ascertained. 



Taking into consideration the successful results I have 

 seen produced, and the perfect condition in which the 

 fibre can be turned out, I am of opinion that the Fri^my- 

 Urbain process is an invention of the highest importance, 

 and, considering the value of rhea fibre as regards its 

 strength and beautifully lustrous appearance when worked 

 up. I am further of opinion that this material, properly 

 prepared, would command a most extensive market. That 

 this would be the case may be inferred from the fact 

 that there is at present a great demand for rhea fibre, 

 notwithstanding that it is more or less imperfectly pro- 

 duced. 



From careful observation of the working of the Favier 

 and Fremy-Urbain processes in conjunction, I am satis- 

 fied that, as far as the production of pure undamaged 

 fibre of long staple goes, the two processes are in accord, 

 and are thoroughly adapted for each other. Properly 

 conducted, I feel convinced that their results must lead 

 to an important expansion in the textile industry of 

 the country. — Planters' Gazette. 



THE LIFE OP A PLANT. 



BY THOMAS STEPHENSON. 



Although the study of vegetable physiology is not 

 directly connected with pharmacy, it is, nevertheless, of 

 considerable interest to all who care to pursue the study 

 of botany a little farther than it is absolutely necessary 

 to do in order to pass their examinations. 



It is not my intention, gentlemen, to desscribe the ele- 

 mentary principles of botany, which I presume you are 

 already well acquainted with. And I wish tonight to enter 

 into the processes of plant life iu greater detail, and also 

 to view them in ihe light of the most recent researches. 



The simplest form of growth is that which is seen in 

 the formation of crystals. In this case the growth con- 

 Biets simply in the apposition of fresh particles iu a 

 definite dureotlon. Plant growth, however, is very much 

 more complicated, though the apparent causes are very 

 simple. Whea a seed is put into the ground, we expect 

 that from nothing but air, earth, and water, it will grow 

 up and form a perfect plant. If we examine any ordinary 

 fleed, such as a bean, we find that it consists of an embryo 

 plant and two fleshy lobes. These latter are called the 

 cotyledons, and contain enough of nourishment stored up 

 to give the young plant a start in life. If the seed be 

 planted, the young plant begins to grow, sending a root 

 tlownwards, and a stem and leaves upwards, while the 

 cotyledons gradually die away. Its patrimony being ex- 

 hausted, the plant must now live on its own account, and 

 manufacture its own tissues from all the nourishment 

 acc**ssil)le to it. viz.. air, watijr. and any polublfr matter 

 which the water may dissolve out of the earth. It is 

 this procesa of nutrition which we have to consider tonight ; 



and as the nutrition of the lower plants forms a special 

 study in itself, 1 shall coufiue myself to the higher 

 dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous plants. Iu a typical 

 plant, the root absorbs water containing mincr.al matter 

 in solution from the soil, this nutriment is conveyed to 

 the leaves and other green parts of the plant, where it 

 meets with carbon dioxide from the atmosphere; the CO^ 

 and H.jO react, forming starch and giving oxgen back to 

 the air, while the assimilated substances are conveyed to 

 all parts of the plant for nutrition. 



In con.sidering the s\ibject in detail, it will be necessary 

 to consider ; first the footl required ; second, the means 

 of obtaining this food ; third, the processes of assimilation 

 and respiration, and lastly, the influence of external con- 

 ditions on the vital processes. 



1. The Food. — The food required by a plant can best 

 be ascertained by an analysis of the plant itself. If a 

 plant be dried at a gentle heat so as to expel all the 

 water it contains, we find that it loses from 5 to -5 of 

 its entire weight, so that water must be the most predomi- 

 nant constituent of plants. If we take the dried plant 

 and burn it, we find that it disappears entirely, with the 

 exception of a very small and varying precentage of ash. 

 Tobacco smoking forms a practical illustration of this. 



Chemical analysis shows that the combustible portion of 

 all plants consists of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, 

 and sulphur, this last remaining in the ash in the form 

 of sulphates. The ash consists of salts of potassium, cal- 

 cium, magnesium, iron and phosphorus, geuereally also 

 sodium, silicon and chlorine, and in marine plants, iodine 

 and bromine. Leaving the water therefore, for the present, 

 out of the question we may conveniently class the chemical 

 constituents of plants under two heads, viz., the organic 

 or essential elements, C, H, O, N, and S, and inorganic 

 or accidental elements, represented by the ash. Cellulose, of, 

 which all plants tissue is composed, is made up of carbon 

 hydrogen and oxygen, being in fact identical in composition 

 with starch, into which it can be converted by treatment 

 with sulphuric acid, so as to give the characteristic blue 

 reaction with iodine. This cellulose forms as it were the 

 skeleton of the plant. The living part of the plant 

 consists protoplasm, which is au albuminous body consisting 

 of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen with sulphur. 

 Carbon is the most abundant element in plants, constituting 

 about one-halt the entire weight of the dried substance. 

 It is obtained almost exclusively by the decomposition of the 

 CO2 of the atmosphere iu the cells which contain chlorojihyll, 

 a process to be be explained later on. 



if^rfro(/e?i enters into the plant in combination with oxygen 

 as water, and possibly also with nitrogen as ammonia. 



Oxyyen is taken into plants both in combination with 

 carbon as CO3 and hydrogen as water. 



JVitrogcn is not obtained from the air. but must enter 

 the plant in the form of nitrates, or an ammoniacal .salt. 

 (The manner in which nitrogenous compounds are obtained 

 by carnivorous plants has already been treated in an 

 able paper on that subject by Mr. Duncan.) 



Sulphur is probably taken up as calcic sulphate, which 

 is decomposed by the oxalic acid always present in the 

 plant (caused by the oxidation of the woody tissue) 

 forming the crystals of oxalate of lime, so commonly 

 seen in plants, the sulphuric acid thus liberated giving 

 up its sulphur in the production of albuminoids, The 

 inorganic ooiistituouts of plants must now be considered. 

 These aro more numerous than the organic, and, though 

 thoy do not enter into the composition of the vital parts 

 of the plant, are, nevertheless, absolutely essential for 

 the carrying out of their various functions, it having 

 been found by actual experiments that growth is imperfect, 

 and sometimes impossible, n^thout the presence of a 

 curtain proportion of inorganic salts. The most important 

 inorganic elements which enter into the composition 

 of plants are potassium, iron, magnesium, calcium, 

 phosphorus and chlorine, and sometimes sodium and silicon. 

 The part which potassium plays in the vegetable economy 

 is as yet but little understood, but it is considered to be 

 essential in the formation of starch by the chlorophyll. 

 Deliquescent salts of potassium are also often present 

 in the cell sap to prevent evaporation. A certain 

 quantity of mineral ash. consisting largely of potassium 

 salt.s, has been found to bo absolutely necessary in 

 green p»rts of the plant, for the proper carrying out 



