188 ° REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 
passed through. Of this liquid an aliquot portion was evaporated in a 
platinum dish and weighed, the residue ignited and again weighed, the 
difference being organic matter ash-free. This residue contained besides 
sugars traces of tannin, more or less coloring matter, possibly alkaloids, 
resins, salts of organic acids, and occasionally nitrates and ammonium 
salts. 
4, Estimation of gun and dextrin.—The residual grass after extraction 
with ether and alcohol was extracted with 250 c. c. of boiling water. 
The ash-free residue was determined in an aliquot part. The amounts 
of gum and dextrin were nearly equal in most eases, although their per- 
fect separation and estimation was not thought desirable. 
5. Estimation of cellulose—Two grams of the coarsely powdered grass 
were digested with 150 ¢. c. of Powers & Weightman’s solution of 
chlorinated soda until perfectly bleached. The liquid was removed by 
filtration through fine linen, and the crude eceilulose was boiled for 
two hours with 150 ¢c. c. of a 14 per cent. solution of potassie hydrate. 
The undissolved cellulose was gathered on a linen filter and thoroughly 
washed, by aid of Bunsen filter pump, with water, alcohol, and finally 
with ether. The residue was transferred to a platinum erucible and 
dried at 120-136° C. until a constant weight was obtained. The nitro- 
genous matter was estimated in one portion of the so purified cellulose, 
and the ash in another portion, and the slight deductions for these im- 
purities being made, the remainder was estimated as pure cellulose. It 
had none of the characteristics of the so-called amylaceous cellulose, to be 
described further on, it being very slightly acted upon by hot dilute 
acids and alkalies. 
6. Estimation of albuminoids.—One-half gram of the finely powdered 
grass was ignited ina combustion tube with excess of dry soda-lime. 
The evolved ammonia was received in freshly standardized decinormal 
oxalic acid, and the amount neutralized was determined by titration 
with decinormal alkali. The nitrogen so found was multiplied by 6.25 
for total albumen. Duplicate estimations were made in every instance. 
7. Estimation of amylaceous cellulose.—After the treatment ef the pow- 
dered grass with ether, alcohol, and boiling water, as already described, 
the remaining grass was boiled for two hours with 100 ¢.¢. of 2 per cent. 
sulphuric acid. The liquid was filtered from the undecomposed grass, 
neutralized with barium carbonate, again filtered, and the residue well 
washed with hot water. An aliquot portion of the filtrate was evapo- 
rated on the water-bath, weighed, ignited, again weighed, and the residue 
stated as organic matter. This residue was very soluble in cold water, 
and was a mixture of dextrine with a little glucose. It is believed to 
have been formed from cellulose by action of the hot dilute acid, as the 
amount of starch in the grasses was shown by microscopic examination 
to be very slight... It seems highly probable that the part of the cellu- 
lose which was so readily converted into dextrine and glucose may have 
existed in the plant in some modified, possibly immature, form. Cer- 
tainly, the purified cellulose when treated in the same manner is much 
less rapidly acted upon by hot dilute acid, an experiment showing that 
it lost only about 6 per cent. by treatment for two hours with 200 ¢. ¢. of 
2 per cent. sulphuric acid. It seems also probable that the cellulose 
which is so readily acted upon by chemical agents may be easily 
digested, and possesses a food value approaching, if not equal to, that of 
starch and the sugars. If this is proven, it will be seen that properly 
cured grasses are but little inferior as flesh formers, or as food in its 
broader meaning, to the cereals. Nor is this conclusion greatly at 
variance with the generally accepted views of advanced agriculturists, 
