ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 



23 



This shows that the stroiion- the sohitioii, or the more of" tlie 

 same solution used, the suialler is the per cent, ol' fiber. 



4. I{lifeet of time in treatment with Na20 sohition. 



In the filtiation a simj)le asbestos fiher was used. After boil- 

 ing; the substanee for 30 tninutes with the alkali, the residue was 

 detaehed from the filter as completely as [)ossible, and subjected 

 to another similar treatment with a new portion of the reagent. 

 This method avoids very largely errors of analysis that would 

 be shown had different samples been taken and treated for dif- 

 ferent lengths of time. Duplicate determinations A and B were 

 made : 



These treatments represent about 50 minutes contact with the 

 alkali, being about 10 minutes to raise to boiling, 30 minutes 

 boiling, 5 minutes standing, and 5 minutes filtering. The first 

 treatment required from 10 to 15 minutes in filtering, thus 

 making the contact longer. In the case of Timothy hay, there- 

 fijre, this diiference is about .07 per cent, of fiber per minute, and 

 of cotton seed meal .01 per cent. 



5. Effect of time in treatment with H2SO4 solution. 



The residue after treatment with alkali was treated in the 

 same way as above. Timothy hay was used. 



