72 ACID AND ALKALINE SECUETIOXS. 



On the other hand, two kinds of Alkali are furnished 

 by vegetables, of which the most general is the Vegeta- 

 ble Alkali, properly so called, known by the name of 

 Salt of Tartar, or Salt of Wormwood, or more correctly 

 by the Arabic term Kali. The Fossil Alkali, or Soda^ 

 is most remarkable in certain succulent phmts that grow 

 near the sea, belonging to the genera Cfienopodium, Sal- 

 sola, &c. When these plants are cultivated in a com- 

 mon soil, they secrete Soda as copiously, provided their 

 health be good, as in their natural maritime places of 

 growth. 



Sugar, more or less pure, is very generally found in 

 plants. It is not only the seasoning of most eatable 

 fruits, but abounds in various roots, as the Carrot, Beet 

 and Parsnip, and in many plants of the grass or cane 

 kind besides the famous Sugar Cane Saccharum o£ici- 

 narum. There is great reason to suppose Sugar 

 not so properly an original secretion, as the result of a 

 chemical change in secretions already formed, either of 

 an acid or mucilaginous nature, or possibly a mixture 

 of both. In ripening fruits this change is most striking, 

 and takes place very speedily, seeming to be greatly 

 promoted by heat and light. By the action of frost, as 

 Dr. Darwin observes, a different change is wrought in 

 the mucilage of the vegetable body, and it becomes 

 starch. 



A fine red liquor is afforded by some plants, as the 

 Bloody Dock or Rumex sanguineus, Engl. Bot. t. 1533, 

 the Red Cabbage and Red Beet, which appears only to 



deeply indebted to those two distinguished botanists, the elder 

 and younger Michaux."| 



