128 REPORT-—1857. 
The total amount of inorganic matters present in the samples was ob- 
tained by the careful incineration of the flax in platinum dishes. The 
specimens of fibre dried at 212° gave, respectively, in No. 1, 1°40 per cent., 
and in No. 2, 1°54 per cent. of ash. The ash had a brick-red colour. The 
unsteeped flax left, on incineration, 5°23 per cent. of an almost white ash. 
The ash from the fibre had the following composition :— 
No. 1. No. 2. 
Potash Wiis ekaskesewatl ood uae 1°85 
Sodackecsstetas setae ths - 2°19 7°62 
Chloride of sodium ... 2°75 ea, 
DAWG wan cath acecnsawecncscee 29°24 Be AU? 
Magnesia ....cccescseare 4°64 see 0°70 
Peroxide of iron ...... 3°72 nie 7°40 
Phosphoric acid ...... 5°23 Sey LOG 
Sulphuric acid ......... 6:00 A 3°12 
Carbonic acid ......... 28°17 woe VOMO 
Silica ...... hadtee dee ee 10:45 21°31 
100°33 100°36 
By distilling the straw of the flax plant with water, there is obtained in 
the receiver a slightly acid distillate, from which, when saturated with com- 
mon salt, by treatment with zther, there is procured a small amount of an 
exceedingly fragrant oil, of a yellow colour, which possesses an intense 
honey-like odour. This oil, when heated, evolves a penetrating smell, with 
a somewhat turpentine odour. It soon solidifies on exposure to the air, 
forming irregular granules, and acquires an acid reaction. Its dilute solution 
evolved the characteristic agreeable odour which is perceived in rooms in 
which large quantities of dressed flax are stored. It may also be separated 
by adding water to the solution, obtained by treating the straw with alcohol 
in the extraction apparatus, and subjecting the mixture to distillation. By 
the action of zther upon both the unsteeped and dressed flax, rich green- 
coloured solutions are obtained. These solutions possess a strongly acid 
reaction, and, on partial cooling, bulky, flocculent white deposits separate, 
leaving the supernatant liquid of an emerald-green colour. ‘The deposited 
matter soon collects in transparent granules, and, when repeatedly washed 
with cold zther, which separates from it a yellow colouring matter, it dries 
over the water-bath to a slightly yellow brittle pulverulent extract, which 
in the cold is scarcely at all acted upon by absolute alcohol, but dissolves 
by the assistance of heat in spirits of turpentine and in ammonia, and is 
saponified by heating with solution of caustic potash. Fixed on a loop 
formed on a piece of platinum wire, and exposed, with the usual precautions, 
to water heated over a lamp, it was observed, in several trials, to soften at 
the temperature of 182° Fahr., and to melt at 184°°5 Fahr. ; strongly heated 
in a platinum capsule, it runs along the dish, then melts and evolves an 
odour of wax, and when placed in its melted condition on paper, produces a 
greasy stain. The amount of wax separated from the unsteeped flax amounted 
to 0°27 per cent. 
When the solution obtained by treating the flax-straw with zther is evapo- 
rated to dryness, a residue is left which consists of a deep olive, almost black 
extract, mixed with a substance of a rich orange colour. This extract, on 
being dissolved by the assistance of heat in ether, and distilled water added 
to it, produces a brown turbid solution, on the surface of which a dark brown 
sticky matter collects, which, when removed by filtration, leaves the liquid 
of a bright golden-yellow colour, and affords, on evaporation, an orange 
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