200 



rior rays of the caudal fin sometimes milky and opaque, and the 

 intervening dusky. 



D. 9 ; C. 23 ? ; A. 9 ; V. 9 ; P. 15. Hab. Lake Erie. 



Dr. C. T. Jackson read a paper communicated by Rich- 

 ard Soule, Jr., giving an account of experiments on the juice 

 of Cornstalk, made Sept. and Oct. 1844, an abstract of 

 which is as follows : 



Having failed to procure some stalks which had been prepared 

 by cutting off the embryo ears, some stalks of vigorous growth 

 were taken from a field of White Virginia Corn, which had pro- 

 duced no ears, having sprung from seed sown broad cast. 



Eighty-one pounds, crushed between iron rollers, yielded three 

 gallons of clear juice, of a density of 6° of Beaume's hydrome- 

 ter. This was evaporated over muriate of lime to 9° Beaume 

 and allowed to stand over night, when a copious green precipitate 

 was found. It was again heated, clarified by white of eggs, strained 

 and evaporated to the proof point of crystallization. After stand- 

 ing twelve hours no crystals were yielded, and it remained a dense 

 sweet syrup, with a perceptible flavor of acidity. It weighed 2,f lbs. 



A portion of this was diluted ; treated, when hot, with clear lime 

 water. A copious brown precipitate soon fell, which I took to be 

 apocrenate of lime. This was separated by filtration, and the syrup 

 evaporated again to the proof point, but no crystals could be obtained. 



It was now suspected that the syrup contained nothing but grape 

 sugar ; and upon comparing it with syrup made by the action of 

 sulphuric acid on starch, and subjecting the two to similar tests, the 

 suspicion was proved to be correct. 



The experiment cannot be regarded as decisive, because the 

 stalk was not cultivated with suitable preparation for the production 

 of sugar. It may be doubted whether a stalk, which, from any 

 cause, does not produce an ear, contains juices in the same state* 

 as regards saccharine matter, as stalks which have put forth ears 

 that have been subsequently removed. 



The syrup was also examined to see if it contained ammonia, 

 and the crenic, apocrenic and humic acids, after the manner pointed 

 out by Dr. C. T. Jackson, in his report on the Geology of Rhode 

 Island, and they were all found. Extract of humus might doubt- 

 less have been found, if any method were known of separating it 

 from such a mixture. 



