444 



divided equally among sulphuric, muriatic, and carbonic 

 acids. Dr. Kane thinks that this simplicity is probably acci- 

 dental, but suggests it for attention in siibsequent analyses 

 of flax ashes from other localities. 



The steeping of flax to loosen the coat of fibrous bark is 

 accompanied by the solution of certain constituents of the 

 plant, as in the case of hemp. The extract of the steeping 

 water was analyzed ; it yielded, dried at 212°, 



Carbon 30.69 



Hydrogen 4.24 



Nitrogen 2.24 



Oxygen 20.82 



Ashes 42.01 



100.00 

 The organic part of this extract consisted therefore of 



Carbon 52.93 



Hydrogen 7.31 



Nitrogen 3.86 



Oxygen 35.90 



100.00 



Here, as in the case of hemp, the nitrogen of the plant is 

 concentrated, but the total quantity of nitrogen is not half so 

 great. In the ash of the extract, as in the case of hemp, the 

 soluble alkaline matters also preponderate. The ashes of 

 the plant yielded 33.90 per cent, of matters soluble in water; 

 whilst the ashes of the flax-steep extract yield 60 per cent, 

 of matters soluble in water. The flax-steep is therefore rich 

 in all the materials necessai-y to produce a new generation of 

 plants; and Dr. Kane stated, as a satisfactory confirmation 

 of the views put forward in his memoir, that in many in- 

 stances where agriculturists have sprinkled land with the 

 water in which flax has been steeped, they have found it a 

 most active manure. 



After the flax fibre has been removed from the rotted 



