-3^J x()fj-;s (ii\ Till': ciuiMisTin- uk tui-: '.naras. 



I he tolldwing- delerniinations were also made: — 



Over- Over- 

 Smaller Larger ripe ripe 

 Fruit. F'ruit. Fruit. Fruit. 



(a) ib) 



Weight lit fruit'- 5.^^-5 682.5 



Percentage of rind 28.85 ■29-79 



Percentage of pulp 57.09 61.74 



Percentage of seed 14.06 8.47 



Diameter of fruit 11 cm. 15 cm. 



Thickness of rind. 35 to .7 cm. .35 to .7 cm. 



Xnml)er of seeds IQ5 148 200 200 



Weight of seeds 74. y ^j .8 66.6 52.6 



Average weight of each seed .384 .390 .^^^ .263 



Weight of husks 3i-t) 20.2 25.1 21.0 



Weight of kernels 43.3 37.6 41.5 31.6 



Percentage of husks 42.19 34-95 37-69 39-9-' 



Percentage of kernels . ... 5781 65.05 62.31 60.08 



Length of seeds i.3toi.6cm 1.31111. 6cm. 



Thickness of seeds 4 to .6 cm. .41(1 ,6 cm. 



Tliickuess (jf husks 3tii .4 mm. .310 .4 mm. 



II will be seen from the above figures that the ! Nara.s trtiit 

 has excellent feeding (|tialilies, the l»idp being rich in carbo- 

 hydrates and the seeds in protein and fat. The " ! Naras cake," 

 which is stored away for food when the frttit is out of season, 

 should lie similar in composition to the air-dried samples. 



A peculiar propert}- of the jttice of the fruit is its action on 

 milk. In connection witli this matter, experiments conducted 

 some time ago 1)\- Dr. K. .Marloth showed that the juice of the 

 fresh fruit cmitains a non-volatile active i)rincipU' which has an 

 effect on milk similar to that of rennet, and that (jne teaspoon ftd 

 of the juice can coagulate one and a half gallons of milk. 



.X.viTRt: oi" W'ai.fish Ba^' Soils. 



The i|uestion of soils and plant foods is (jf very great im- 

 portance — far greater than one wotild imagine on hearing that 

 the ! X'aras plant grows on sand-dunes. The term " sand- 

 dunes " immediately suggests white or yellow (|tiartz sand ])rac- 

 tically devoid of any ])!ant food. The Ktiisip River soils, how- 

 ever, are of an entirely different type, as will appear 1)elow. 



The soils examined were the following: — 



A. — Scils ill z^'liiili .' Naras plants ,s;row — 



1. Surface sample from three holes at Haroas. 



2. Sulisdil (if .\(i. I. 



3. Surface sam|)le from three holes at Wortel. 



4. Sulisoil of Xo. 3. 



B. — Soils ill i^'liich ' Xdras plants K'Hl not grow — 



1. Surface. 



2. Suljsoil. 



3. Lumps of dark shalv matter found in X^o. i. 



C. — Soil from X'^amieh Desert taken at Trigonometrical Station L'.P.2 at 

 deiJth of 12 inches, the coarse white sand on the surface having 

 been removed. 



* This weight and all other weights in this table are expressed in 

 grammes. 



