470 PHYSIOLOGY AT THE FAKM. 



the radicles drop off, and are collected for use under the name 

 of barley sprouts or comins. They are of service both for 

 feeding cattle and also as a manure. 



A complete chemical analysis of these barley-sprouts has 

 not yet been made. The ash has, however, been analysed, and 

 some remarkable results obtained. Moreover, it has been dis- 

 covered that a large proportion of nitrogen is carried off by 

 the sprout from, the malt, while diastase is generated, not in 

 the neighbourhood of the radicle or sprout, but in that of the 

 germ. One hundred parts of dry barley yield 90.22 of malt, 

 and 3.99 of malt and kiln dust, which is chiefly made up of 

 the barley-sprouts. In this small proportion of the original 

 100 parts of barley there is contained l-9th of the whole nitro- 

 gen in the 100 parts of barley ; that is, 100 parts of barley lose 

 13.5 per cent of nitrogen by passing into 90.22 parts of malt. 



When dry barley-sprouts are burnt, there is left 7.25 per 

 cent of ash, which has the following composition : 



Potash and soda, .... 36.78 



Lime, ...... 3.09 



Magnesia, . . . . . 5.46 



Oxide of iron, . . . . . 1.09 



Phosphoric acid, .... 24.87 



Sulphuric acid, . . . . . 4.84 



Chlorine, ..... 7.95 



Silica soluble in water, . . . 1.80 



Insoluble silica, . . . . 14.12 



100.00 



In this table the large figures stand opposite to the alkalies 

 potash and soda, the phosphoric acid, and silica. As silica 

 does not exist in* grains of barley freed from husk, therefore 

 the large proportion of silica that exists in the radicle must be 

 derived from the husk during germination. This is thought 

 to explain why the husk of barley clings to the seed till ger- 



