823 



l)roteiu content was practically the same for the two weightis. It will 

 be seen that a light weight per bushel Avas always acconiitaiiied by a 

 light weight per 1,000 kernels, and that the proportion of glumes in 

 the seed was highest in the case of the light oats. In the light oats 

 the glumes were more fully (leveloi)ed than the kernel, the reason for 

 which is plain when the order of development of the parts is consid- 

 ered. As the glumes are formed uiuch earlier than the kernel, the final 

 development of tlu' kernel might be hindered by drouth and other 

 causes after the glumes were fully formed, in which case the ])ercentage 

 of glumes would be larger than in normally ripened grain. The ])rotein 

 content of the naked kernels and the inner glumes was determined in 

 the oats grown at the station, with the following result (in air-dry 

 material) : 



Naked kernel. Inner glumes. 



Heavy oats 12.3 per cent. 2.0 per cent. 



Light oats 13.1 per cent. 2.1 per cent. 



While, therefore, a measured quantity of the light oats contains a 

 less amount of food nutrients than the heavy oats, pound for pound the 

 two are about equal. 



Examination of wheat of different years, W. Windisch 



{M'ochcnsch.f. Braucrei [9), 1892, p. 220; ahs. i)i Cliem. Ztg.^ 1892, re}), 

 p. 95). — Ten samples of wheat grown in 1S91 were examined as to their 

 value for brewing, and the results compared with crops of 1889 and 

 1800, with the following results: 



Wheat of 18S9, 1890, and 1891. 



The 1891 wheat contained more water and more protein in <lry matter 

 than that from either of the 2 previous years; the charactev of the 

 endosperm was inferior. 



On the assimilation of carbohydrates, Hanriot {Compt. rend., 114 

 {1892), pp. o7i-57i).— Ptliiger hasdesignated as coellicieiit of re.spiratiou 

 [quotient respiratoire) the relation between carbonic acid given ott" in a 

 given time and oxygen absorbed in the same time. The coefficient for a 

 man fasting is less than unity, as may be readily seen, for if we examine 

 the formulas of the fats and albuminoid substances, we will find that 

 they contain less oxygen and nitrogen than is necessary for transform- 

 ing their hydrogen into water and ammonia; the oxygen absorbed in 

 respiration is used, therefore, to burn the excess of hydrogen and all of 



