404 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



extractions the ratios of acid to peat were slightly higher than in 

 Jodidi's work as we used 13.5 g. of oven-dried peat to 630 and 330 g. of 

 acid making ratios of 45.6 and 24.4 for the brown and black peats re- 

 spectively as compared with 41 and 21 in his work. If anything, this 

 should increase the amounts of amino nitrogen in our results. At the 

 time this work was done the samples of peat analyzed for total nitrogen 

 as follows: 



Brown 2.59 per cent. 



Black 1-85 per cent. 



BROWN PEAT. 



15 g. sample gave 3.23 cc. N at 760 mm. and 0°=24.96 per cent of the total. 

 Found by Jodidi 41.19 per cent of the total. 



BLACK PEAT. 



15 g. sample gave 4.52 cc. N at 760 mm. and 0°^25.97 per cent of the total. 

 Found by Jodidi 43.02 per cent of the total. 



As was anticipated these results were lower than his. They agree 

 well with the results on the brown peat previously described which 

 would indicate that the amino nitrogen content of peat is a fairly con- 

 stant quantity. 



A sample of this black peat was extracted with 25 per cent sulfuric 

 acid and the extract treated as described on page IS. Upon concentra- 

 ting the sulfate-free liquid the characteristic yellow scale formed. It 

 was separated from the mother liquor and purified as in the previous 

 case. The quantity was too small to permit of a separation of the 

 isomers. The material was converted into the copper salt which 

 analyzed as follows: 



0.0720 gram substance gave 0.1169 gram CO 2 and 0.0485 gram KJD. 

 0.0302 gram substance gave 0.0075 gram CuO. 

 Calculated for (CgH j^NO ^) j3n: C, 44.48; H, 7.47; Cu, 19.64. Found: C, 44.29; H, 7.53; 

 Cu, 19.85. 



The substance was evidently a mixture of the two compounds de- 

 scribed above. 



SUMMARY. 



It is evident from the work done up to the present time on the nitro- 

 genous material of soil organic matter that the subject is an exceed- 

 ingly complex one. Evidently the decomposition products of plants 

 contain compounds of great structural variety. The work reported in 

 this paper and that done by Suzuki proves quite conclusively that a 

 considerable portion of the nitrogen is present in the form of a protein 

 compound or a mixture of such compounds which can be broken down 

 on treatment with acids in the same manner as casein, egg albumen, 

 etc. In the samples of peat studied for this work about 26 per cent 

 of the total nitrogen was combined in this form in such a way that it 

 could be converted by hydrolysis into primary amines, probably with 



