38 



HISTOLOGIC PROPERTIES AND REACTIONS. 



Amaryllis parkeri alba. This plant is evidently a variety 

 of A. parkeri. It possesses a fine umbel, a large number of 

 flowers almost pure white but with the same orange shading 

 at the base as in the flower described above. It is a most strik- 

 ing and distinct novelty. The origin was not stated, but every- 

 thing points to the same cross. This was shown as A. bella- 

 donna ketcenis alba by Mr. Worsley, Mandeville House, Isle- 

 worth. 



Brunsdonna sanderce alba. In this case the umbel resembled 

 typical A. belladonna in formation, being one-sided rather than 

 globular. This plant is also the result of a cross between liruns- 

 vigia and Amaryllis belladonna., but there is not sufficient in- 

 formation to determine whether the parentage is the same as 

 in the case of A. parkeri. 



Comparative examinations of a preliminary character 

 were made of the starches of A. parkeri alba, Bruns- 

 donna tubergeni, Brunsdonna sanderce alba, and B. san- 

 derce, as follows : 



Histologic Properties. All of these starches are alike 

 in that all have very few compound grains which consist 

 of two components, and all have very few aggregates 

 which usually are in the form of doublets of equal size, 

 but occasionally as triplets that are linearly arranged. 

 The grains of A. parkeri alba and of Brunsdonna san- 

 derce alba, and B. sanderce have about the same degree 

 of irregularity of surface, while those of B. tubergeni 

 are much more irregular than the preceding, the irregu- 

 larities in all being due to the same causes. The con- 

 spicuous forms of the grains of A. parkeri alba and of 

 B. sanderce alba and B. sanderce are very much alike, 

 but those of the first are more slender and elongated 

 than those of the two latter. The grains of B. tuber- 

 geni are, as a rule, intermediate in slenderness between 

 those of A. parkeri and B. sanderce alba, and B. sanderce, 

 but closer to those of the latter ; and there is a conspic- 

 uousness of elliptical, irregularly triangular, and nearly 

 round grains. The hila of the grains of A. parkeri alba 

 and those of B. sanderce alba and B. sanderce show 

 the same degree of distinctness, and in all three 

 more distinctness than in B. tubergeni. The eccen- 

 tricity is about the same in all four starches. The 

 lamellae of A. parkeri alba and B. tubergeni are more 

 distinct and more often coarse than those of B. san- 

 derce alba and B. sanderce, otherwise they are prac- 

 tically the same in all four starches except that in B. 

 tubergeni, in which they are somewhat more often irreg- 

 ular than in the others. In size the grains of B. sanderce 

 alba and B. sanderce are smallest, those of A. parkeri alba 

 intermediate, and those of B. tubergeni largest ; but there 

 are no marked differences. 



Polariscopic Properties. The polariscopic figure is 

 very nearly the same in all four starches, but it is more 

 often irregular in B. tubergeni than in the others. The 

 degree of polarization is practically the same in all of 

 the starches. 



Iodine Reactions. With 0.25 per cent Lugol's solu- 

 tion A. parkeri alba, B. sanderce alba, and B. sanderce 

 color about equally and from 3 to 5 units more than 

 B. tubergeni. 



Aniline Reactions. With gentian violet A. parkeri 

 alba, B. sanderce alba, and B. sanderce color about the 

 same and about 5 units less than B. tubergeni. With 

 safranin the results are practically the same as the fore- 

 going, but there is somewhat less variation of coloring 

 of the grains of B. tubergeni than of the starches. 



The reaction of A. parkeri alba with sulphuric acid 

 begins immediately. Complete gelatinization occurs in 

 about 3 per cent of the entire number of grains and 10 

 per cent of the total starch in 15 seconds; in about 70 

 per cent of the grains and 80 per cent of the total starch 

 in 30 seconds; in about 96 per cent of the grains and 

 98 per cent of the total starch in 45 seconds; and in 

 about 99 per cent of the grains and over 99 per cent of 

 the total starch in 1 minute. The reactions of Bruns- 

 donna sanderce alba and B. sanderce with sulphuric acid 

 are given on pages 389 and 394, Part II, and Chart D 5. 



The reactions of Brunsdonna tubergeni with sul- 

 phuric acid begin immediately. Complete gelatiniza- 

 tion occurs in about 80 per cent of the entire number 

 of grains and 90 per cent of the total starch in 30 sec- 

 onds; in about 99 per cent of the grains and in more 

 than 99 per cent of the total starch in 45 seconds ; and 

 in 100 per cent of the starch in 1 minute. 



The reaction of A. parkeri alba with potassium iodide 

 begins in a few grains in 30 seconds. Complete gela- 

 tinization occurs in about 1 per cent of the entire num- 

 ber of grains and 65 per cent of the total starch in 5 

 minutes; in about 20 per cent of the grains and 75 per 

 cent of the total starch in 15. minutes; in about 32 per 

 cent of the grains and 88 per cent of the total starch in 

 30 minutes; in about 52 per cent of the grains and 90 

 per cent of the total starch in 45 minutes ; and with little 

 if any further advance in 60 minutes. 



The reactions of B. sanderce alba and B. sanderoe 

 with potassium iodide are given on pages 389 and 394, 

 Part II, and Chart D 8. 



The reaction of B. tubergeni with potassium iodide 

 begins immediately. Complete gelatinization occurs in 

 59 per cent of the entire number of grains and 95 per 

 cent of the total starch in 5 minutes; in about 95 per 

 cent of the grains and in more than 99 per cent of the 

 total starch in 15 minutes. 



The reaction of A. parkeri alba with sodium hydrox- 

 ide begins immediately. Complete gelatinization occurs 

 in about 50 per cent of the entire number of grains 

 and 92 per cent of the total starch in 2 minutes; in 

 about 81 per cent of the grains and 97 per cent of the 

 total starch in 5 minutes; and in about 97 per cent of the 

 grains and over 99 per cent of the total starch in 10 

 minutes. 



The reactions of Brunsdonna sanderce alba and B. 

 sanderce with sodium hydroxide are given on pages 390 

 and 395, Part II, and Chart D 11. 



The reaction of Brunsdonna tubergeni with sodium 

 hydroxide begins immediately. Complete gelatinization 

 occurs in about 84 per cent of the entire number of 

 grains and 97 per cent of the total starch in 5 minutes. 



The most important questions here involved are: (1) 



