G06 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



cese, Cruciferae, CTnibelliferae, Ampelideae, Solanacese, Liliaceae, Polyg- 



ouace;c, and Urticacese are rich in manganese. It is abundant in oaks, 

 elms, hornbeam, chestnuts, and poplars. The manganese appears to be 

 concentrated in the leaves and young shoots (the active organs of vege- 

 tation). It is found in greatest abundance, however, in the seeds of 

 flowering plants, such as wheat, barley, oats, maize, beans, buckwheat, 

 hemp, coffee, figs, prunes, raisins, apples, and poplar and in fleshy roots, 

 such as the potato. Manganese is present to a much less extent in 

 auimalsthan in plants. The egg yolk containsmuch more than the white. 

 The agg as a whole contains more manganese than flesh or bone. 

 Horny portions of animals, and in general skin with its associated 

 parts, contain considerable amounts of manganese. 



The quantitative separation of hemicellulose, cellulose, and 

 lignin, and the occurrence of pentosans in these substances, W. 

 Hoffmkister {Landw. Vers. Stat, 50 (1898), Xo. 5-6, pp. 347-362).— 

 Following a discussion of the properties of these materials, the author 

 describes their separation from sunflower-seed hulls. A large quantity 

 of the hulls was extracted with ether, hydrochloric acid, and ammonia, 

 and the residue was treated successively with 5 per cent sodium hy- 

 droxid (giving 2.78 per cent of hemicellulose), with Schweizer's reagent 

 (giving 0.7 per cent of cellulose), and with hydrochloric acid and ammonia 

 (giving 50.7 per cent of lignin). The hemicellulose contained 81.4 per 

 cent of pentosan and the cellulose 54.5 percent. Fifty grams of the 

 lignin (insoluble residue) yielded, after treatment with dilute ammonia 

 for Odays, 1.91 gm. of hemicellulose containing 30 per cent of pentosans 

 and 20.10 gm. of cellulose containing 2.18 per cent of pentosans. The 

 ammoniacal extract and washings yielded 13.20 gm. of incrusting sub- 

 stance, and the undissolved residue of 14.21 gm. gave, on further treat- 

 ment with ammonia, 2.30 gm. of cellulose. Hence the 50 gm. of lignin 

 was found to consist of 24.37 gm. of cellulose and hemicellulose, and a 

 residue comprised of incrusting substances and ash. 



The author suggests that determinations of this sort may be of assist- 

 ance in studying digestibility. 



Studies were made on the effect of dilute ammonia on the cellulose 

 bodies of lignin, and on the effect of dissolving cellulose in Schweizer's 

 reagent on its solubility in sodium hydrate solution. Determinations 

 are reported of the cellulose (Schweizer's extract) and lignin, and the 

 proportions of pentosans in each of these, in clover at different stages 

 of the first and second years of growth. These indicate an increase in 

 both years in both the cellulose and lignin during the growing period. 

 In the first year an absolutely as well as relatively larger amount of 

 these substances was produced than in the second year. The amount 

 of pentosans in the Schweizer extract was relatively higher the second 

 year than the first, but the reverse was true for that in the lignin. All 

 of the above results are believed to need confirmation. 



Proceedings of the fourteenth annual convention of the Association of Offi- 

 cial Agricultural Chemists ( U. S. Dept. Ayr., Division of Chemistry Bid. 51, pp. 



