SEMEN LINL 99 



11 to 12 percent., although at the same tune its glycerin is destroyed by 



oxidation. 



By saponification, linseed oil yields glycerin, and 9o per cent, of 



H 



Ijy some oleic, palmitic, arid myristic acid. The action of the aii 



transforms linoleic acid into the resinoid 



H-' 



Linoleic acid appears to be contained in all drying oils, notably in 

 that of poppy seed. It is not homologous cither with ordinary ftitty 

 acids or with the oleic acid of oil of almonds, C^^H^O^ The chemistry 

 of the drying oils, especially those of linseed and poppy, has been parti- 



The viscid mucilage of linseed cunnot be filtered till it has "been 

 boiled. It contains in tlie dry state more than 10 per cent, of mineral 

 substances, when freed from which and dried at 110° C. it corre- 

 sponds, hke alth?ea-mucilage, to the formula C^2j£2ooio_ The seeds by 

 exhaustion with cold or warm water afford of it about 15 per cent. 

 By hoihng nitric acid it yields cr3^stals of mucic acid ; by dilute mineral 

 acids it is broken up into dextrogyre gum and sugar and cellulose.^ 



Linseed contains about 4 per cent, of nitrogen corresponding to 

 about 25 per cent, of protein-substances. After expression of the oil 

 these substances remain in the cake so completely that the latter con- 

 tains 5 per cent, of nitrogen, and constitutes a very important article, 

 for feeding cattle. 



_ In the ripe state linseed is altogether destitute of starch, though 

 this substance is found in the immature seed in the very cells which 

 Siubsequently yield the mucilage. The latter may be regarded as in 

 analogous cases to be a product of the transformation of starch. 



The amount of water retained by the air-dry seed is about 

 «' per cent. 



. The mineral constituents of linseed, chiefly phosphates of potas- 

 sium, magnesium, and calcium, amount on an average to ,3 per cent., 

 ■>^tid pass into the mucilage. By treating thin slices of the testa and 

 Its adhering inner membrane with ferrous sulphate, it is seen that this 

 integument is the seat of a small amount of tannin. 



Production and Commerce — Flax is cultivated on the largest 

 scale in Russia, from which country there was imported into the 

 ;umted Kingdom in 1872 linseed to the value of 3 millions sterling, 

 ^iie shipments were made in about equal proportion from the northern 

 ftud the southern ports of Russia. 



the imports from India in the same year amounted in value to 

 *bi44,942, and from Germanv and Holland to £144,108. The total 

 '"iport m 1872 was 1,514,947 quarters, value £4,513,842. 

 ^ the cultivation of flax in Great Britain appears to be dechning. 

 a,!!! ""'"^ ^"^<ler this crop in Ih 



"es; in 1872, 15,357 acres; a.^ ... ...», ..,.--^ - 



Wo 11 ^^'^^ i^'-'ckoniug the yield at 2 to 2i quarters of seed per acre 

 "^ I'eprcsent a production of about 30,000 to 38,000 quarters. 



hi Jf i!!.^^^?^'^^is iuvcstii^rations on tliia Chcmie der ausfrorknemh^i Oi^Ie . . Berlin, 



*^HecthZi '^ nivcstigations on tliia 

 i^^^n'hl. t nf '""^^ Publialied in a separate 



1SG7, pp. 255. 



enuan f». i ^^^^ ^^'^ ^^^"^'^ before iis a - Kirclmer aiul Tolleiis, Annalai de^ 



^raxidation: G, J. MiilJen Die T'/m/^, 175 (1874) 215. 



