1919] 



WOO— A MA RAN TH US 



335 



condition in the roots, stems, and leaves in the various stages of 

 development. 



SEEDS 



A tissue analysis of the seeds was made in order to discover 

 what important compounds were present and the distribution of 

 these compounds in the various fractions. This gives one a more 

 comprehensive knowledge of the chemical constitution of the 

 plant. 



Preparation. — The seeds were freed from chaff and cleaned in 

 a breeze until all red seeds were removed and only plump black 

 ones remained. These uniform seeds were then ground in a mortar 

 with the pestle by taking a few at a time. A known quantity 

 (25 gm.) was weighed out in triplicate for alcoholic digestion, and 

 the tissues were fractionated and the carbohydrates, the nitrogen 

 compounds, and the phosphorus determined. 



TABLE IV 



Seeds; summary of total constituents 



Material 



A. blitoides 



A. retroflexus 



H 2 Av. 3 



Total N 



Total P 



Total carbohydrates. 



Lipins 



Ash (ignition) 



2-55 

 4.01 

 48.27 

 4.58 

 3-5o 



9 

 2 



3 

 48 



4 



3 



45 

 42 



93 

 43 



44 

 68 



4 



47 

 7 

 4 



54 



63 



22 



67 



8.61 



2.47 

 4.60 



47-°3 

 7.86 

 4.19 



4 



47 

 7 

 4 



37 

 65 

 37 

 78 

 14 



Different forms of phosphorus. — After separating the seeds 

 into fractions F x , F 2 , and F 3 , the different phosphorus compounds 

 were estimated in the three fractions. In each case the phosphorus 

 was determined by the Pemberton-Kilgore method (10). The 

 analysis of the different forms of phosphorus is given in table V, and 

 the percentage ratio of these different forms to the total phosphorus 

 is given in table VI. The inorganic phosphorus was estimated 

 by the Chapin-Powick method (4). The amounts obtained from 

 fractions two and three (F 2 +F 3 ) were combined and calculated 

 as total inorganic phosphorus. The soluble organic phosphorus 

 was obtained by subtracting the inorganic phosphorus of fraction 

 two only from total phosphorus in the same fraction (F 2 ). The 



