1^38] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



603 



100 parts of Lignum Vitae 

 Mahogany 

 Laburnum 

 Chestnut 

 Oak 



- 26-8 of charcoal 



- 25-4 



- 21-5 



- 23-2 



- 22-6 



American black Beech - 21-4 

 Wahiut - - - 20-6 



Holiv - - - 19-9 



Beech - - - 19-9 



American Maple - 19-9 



Elm - - - 19-5 



Norway Pine - - 19-2 



Sallow - - - 18-4 



Ash . - - 17-9 



Birch - - - 17-4 



Scottish Fir - - 16'4 



MM. Gay LuBsac and Thenard have concluded, 

 from their experiments on the wood of the oak 

 and the beech, that 100 parts of the first contain: — 

 Of Carbon - - 52-53 



Oxygen - - 41-78 



Hydrogen - 5-69 



and 100 parts of the second — 



Of Carbon - - 51-45 



Oxygen - - 42-73 



Hydrogen - 5-82 



Supposing woody fibre to be a definitive com- 

 pound, these estimations lead to the conclusion, 

 that it consists of 5 proportions of carbon, 3 of 

 oxygen, and 6 of hydrogen ; or 57 carbon, 45 

 oxygen, and 6 hydrogen. 



It will be unnecessary to speak of the applica- 

 tions of woody fibre. The different uses of the 

 woods, cotton, linen, the barks of trees, are suf- 

 ficiently known. Woody fibre appears to be an 

 indigestible substance. * 



18. The acids found in the vegetable kingdom 

 are numerous ; the true vegetable acids which 

 exist ready formed in the juices or organs of 

 plants, are the oxalic, citric, tartaric, benzoic, ace- 

 tic, meconic, malic, gallic, and prussic acids. 



All these acids, except the acetic, malic, and 

 prussic acids, are white crystallized bodies. The 

 acetic, malic, and prussic acids have been obtain- 

 ed only in the fluid state ; they are all more or less 

 soluble in water; all have a sour taste except the 

 gallic and prussic acids ; of which the first has an 

 astringent taste, and the latter a taste like that of 

 bitter almonds. The meconic acid exists in opium. 

 The oxalic acid exists, uncombined, in the li- 

 quor which exudes from the Chich pea ( Cicer 

 arietinum, ) and may be procured from wood Sor- 

 rel ( Oxalis jlcetosella. ) common sorrel, and other 

 species of Rumex : and from the Geranium aci- 

 dum. Oxalic acid is easily discovered and distin- 

 guished from other acids by its property of de- 

 composing all calcareous salts, and forming with 

 lime a salt insoluble in water; and by its crystal- 

 lizing in four-sided prisms. 



The citric acid is the peculiar acid exisfinor in 

 the juice of lemons and oranges. It may likewise 

 be obtained from the cranberry, whortleberry, and 

 hip. 



* By trituration and fermentation, and the heat of 

 the oven, woody fibre may be converted into a kind of 

 bread ; by the action of strong sulphuric acid on it, it 

 may be changed into a kind of gum, and this gum, by 

 boiling, may be transformed into sugar : and as it is 

 possible that similar changes may be effected in it in 

 the alimentary canal of animals, it may not be entire- 

 ly indigestible. — J. D. 



Citric acid is distinguished by its forming a salt 

 insoluble in water with lime ; but decomposable by 

 the mineral acids. 



The tartaric acid may be obtained from the juice 

 of mulberries and grapes; and likewise from the 

 pulp of the tamarind. It is characterized by its 

 property of forming a dilllcultly soluble salt with 

 potassa, and an insoluble salt decomposable by 

 the mineral acids with lime. 



Benzoic acid may be procured from several re- 

 sinous substances by distillation ; from benzoin, 

 storax, and balsam of Tolu. It is distinguished 

 from the other acids by its aromatic odour, and by 

 its extreme volatility. 



Malic acid may be obtained from the juice of 

 apples, barberries, plums, elderberries, currants, 

 strawberries, and raspberries. It forms a soluble 

 salt with lime; and is easily distinguished by this 

 test from the acids already named. 



Acetic acid, or vinegar, may be obtained from 

 the sap of different trees. It is distinguished from 

 malic acid by its peculiar odor; and from the other 

 vegetable acids by forming soluble salts with the 

 alkalies and earths. 



Gallic acid may be obtained by gently and gra- 

 dually heating powdered gall-nuts, and receiving 

 the volatile matter in a cool vessel. A number of 

 white crystals will appear, which are distinguish- 

 ed by their property of rendering solutions of iron 

 deep purple. 



The vegetable prussic acid is procured by dis- 

 tilling laurel leaves, or the kernels of the peach, 

 and cherry, or bitter almonds. It is characterized 

 by its property of forming a blueish green preci- 

 pitate, when a little alkali is added to it, and it is 

 poured into solutions containing iron. It is very 

 analogous in its properties to the prussic acid ob- 

 tained from animal substances; or by passing am- 

 monia over heated charcoal; but this last body 

 forms, with the red oxide of iron, the deep bright 

 blue substance called Prussian blue. 



Some other vegetable acids have been found in 

 the products of plants; the morolyxic acid in a 

 saline exudation from the white mulberry tree, and 

 the kinic acid in a salt afforded by Peruvian bark; 

 but these two bodies have as yet been discovered 

 in no other ca?es. The igasuric acid is so named 

 by its discoverers, MM. Pelietier and Caventou: 

 and the boletic, nanceic, fungic, and ellagic acids, 

 have been described by M. Braconnot; but their 

 properties are too little interesting to the agricul- 

 turist to insert a description in this place. The 

 phosphoric acid is found free in the onion; and the 

 phosphoric, sulphuric, muriatic, and nitric acids, 

 exist in many saline compounds in the vegetable 

 kingdom; but they cannot with propriety be con- 

 sidered as vegetable products. Other acids are 

 produced during the combustion of vegetable 

 compounds, or by the action of nitric acid upon 

 them; they are the camphoric acid, the mucous or 

 saclactic acid, and the suberic acid; the first of 

 which is procured from camphor; the second from 

 gum or mucilage; and the third from cork, by the 

 action of nitric acid. 



From the experiments that have been made 

 upon the vegetable acids, it appears that all of 

 them, except the prussic acid, are constituted by 

 different proportions of carbon, hydrogen, and 

 oxycren: the prussic acid consists of carbon, azote, 

 and hydrogen, with a little oxygen. The gallic 

 acid contains more carbon than any of the other 

 vegetable acids. 



