AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY AGROTECHNY. 503 



(maximum 0.0C8, minimum 0.010 per cout) ; base (1 sample) 0.15 per cent; and 

 root (1 sample) 0.115 per cent. 



The barium sulphate content of other plants and materials which were ex- 

 amined was as follows: Com stover, in dry plant, 0.014 per cent; corn stalks 

 (stubs ad base) in ash, 0.055; corn roots and rootlets, in ash, 0.022; soy beans, 

 best white (whole plant), in dry plant, 0.005; soy beans, China (beans), in 

 dry plant, 0.0014; alfalfa (as cut), in dry plant 0.0132; hemp, in dry plant, 

 O.OO'Sd; burdock root, in ash, 0.4-1; blue grass, in dry plant, 0.0078; clover, in 

 dry plant, 0.008; Irish potatoes, in ash O.OKJ; hazelnut shells, in dry plant, 

 0.007; sycamore stump (last growth, next to bark), in a.sh, 0.030; banana stalk 

 (after fruit had been removed), in dry plant, 0.049; coal, in air dry stnnple, 

 0.014; soil, dry, O.os ; and soil (coal measures), in dry soil, 0.(M2 per cent. No 

 barium was found in corn (plant, ear, and cob), soy beans (whole plant), poke 

 root, wheat (gi-ain), hickoryuut shells, sycamore stump (heart), or limestone 

 rock. 



In contrast to Crawford's findings with plants (E. S. R., 20, p. 280), 2 to- 

 bacco plants yielded barium when extracted with water. This barium is prob- 

 ably in combination with organic acids, consequently " in tobacco, a plant whose 

 barium content has not been previously reported upon, the barium varies from 

 the normal content of other plants, both wild and cultivated, to approximately 

 twice the maximum reported in locoweed. . . . The occurrence of barium in 

 the live cells of the higher plants suggests that possibly this metal may function 

 in metabolism." 



See also previous note (E. S. R., 27, p. 580). 



About a hemagg-lutinin in the Euphorbia, M. von Eisleu and I^. von 

 PoRTHEiM {CentU. Bakt. [etcl, 1. Am., Orig., 66 {1912), No. 2-4, pp. 309-316; 

 a1)S. in CentU. Bakt. [efc], 1. AU., Rcf., 55 {1912), No. 19, p. 581).— In the 

 milky juice of the Euphorbia hemagglutinins were often noted. These sub- 

 stances were present not only in the seed but also in the vegetative parts of the 

 plant. 



Enzymatic cleavag-e of hippuric acid by mold fungi, A. W. Dox and R. E. 

 Neidig {Hoppc-ScijJcr\s Zt.^chr. Pfnjsiol. Clicin., 85 (1913), No. 1-2, pp. 68-71; 

 ahs. in Science, n. ser., 37 (1913), No. 957, p. 683). — "The formol titration 

 method of Sorenson was found admirably adapted to a study of enzymatic 

 cleavage of hippuric acid. All of the mold species examined [Aspergillus nigcr, 

 A. fumigatus, A. clavatus, PeniciUium cmnemherti, P. roqueforti, and P. ex- 

 pansum] contained an enzym capable of hydrolyzing 80 per cent or more of the 

 hippuric acid in the presence of toluol. The age of the culture (1 to 4 weeks) 

 seemed to have little influence upon the amount of enzym. The enzym was 

 produced in all cases in the absence of the corresponding zymolyte from the 

 medium." 



Taka-diastase was also studied in this connection. 



Cleavage of pyromucuric acid by mold enzyms, A. \V. Dox and R. E. 

 Neidig (Biocheni. Bui. 2 {1913), No. 7, pp. 407-409).— As none of the hetero- 

 cyclic analogues of hippuric acid have been studied with reference to their 

 cleavage an investigation was made with pyromucuric acid and taka-diastase, 

 emulsin, and press juices from the following species of mold : Aspergillus fumi- 

 gatus, A. niger, A. clavatus, PeniciUium roqueforti P. camemherti. P. expansum, 

 and Fusarium oxysporium. As a measure of the cleavage the formol-titri- 

 metric method was used. The amount of cleavage was less than that which 

 was previously noted with hippuric acid. Figures relative to the formation of 

 ammonia are also included, but ammonia is not regarded as a direct cleavage 

 product of pyromucuric acid. 



