294 BRITISH ASSOCIATION, MEETING AT EXETER. 
tending to the Gulf of Perras, three distinct regions or areas may be 
recognized, each of which possesses a certain number of species of 
animals and plants ona to itself, as well as of a certain number 
common to its neighbour 
In the Chemieal Seins the subjects mentioned belo were brought 
forward :— 
. “ On some New Substances extracted from the Walnut.” By Dr. T. 
L. Phipson. Between the shell and the kernel of the Walnut there 
exists a thin membrane called the episperm, which closely envelopes 
the cotyledons, and is composed here, as in most other fruits, of a 
double membrane, the inner one being very thin, quite white, trans- 
lucid, and perfectly devoid of taste, whilst the external one is much 
coarser in structure, more or less coloured, has a very bitter, disagree- 
able taste, and contains certain substances which formed the subject 
of this paper. From this membrane Dr. Phipson had extracted a 
substance which he called nucitannic acid, the most remarkable pro- 
perty of which is that when boiled with dilute hydrochloric acid it 
splits up into glucose and another new substance, called rothic acid. 
“On the Amount of Soluble and Insoluble Phosphates in Seeds." By 
Professor Crace Calvert. ‘The Professor said that the results of various 
experiments he had made was that 100 parts of cotton fibre yield, 
when repeatedly washed with water, a quantity of acid phosphate of 
magnesia ; both husks and seeds also yield certain proportions. The 
results showed that the phosphates exist in much larger quantity in the 
seed than in the other parts of the pod. Experiments upon Wheat 
flour of various kinds showed that whilst the flour contains only a 
trace of the phosphates, especially soluble ones, the bran contains a 
large quantity. These facts tend to prove that the phosphates and 
the mineral matters contained in Wheat are not combined with the 
matter, but are in a free condition. Other investigations go 
to prove that although habit and pride have gradually led us to prefer 
white bread to brown, yet this is an error when we consider the nu- 
tritious properties of Wheat, especially as food for children, phosphates 
being essential for the formation of bone and blood. 
