Tlie Elements in Plants 21 



PROPORTIONS OF THE ELEMENTS IN PLANTS AND 

 ANIMALS 



The facts which have been reviewed coucerning' the 

 elements out of which the tissues of phints and animals 

 are built are properly supplemented by a statement of 

 the proportions in which these are found in living or- 

 ganisms. This information is necessary to an under- 

 standing of the relations of supply and demand which 

 exist between the vegetable and animal kingdoms and 

 the raw materials of the inorganic world. 



In Plants. — It is estimated by a German scientist, 

 Knop, that if all the species of the vegetal)le kingdom, 

 exclusive of the fungi, were fused into one mass, the 

 ultimate composition of the dry matter of this mixture 

 would be the following: 



Per rent 



Carbon 45 



Oxygen 42 



Hydrogen G . 5 



Nitrogen 1.5 



Mineral compounds (ash) 5 



The composition of various single species or of parts 

 of a plant, such as the fruit or straw, shows consid- 

 erable variations from these average figures: 



Carbon Oxygen Hydrogen Nitrogen (Ash) 



Clover hay 47.4 37.8 5. 2.1 7.7 



Wheat kernel 46.1 43.4 5.8 2.3 2.4 



Wheat straw 48.4 38.9 5.3 .4 7.0 



Fodder beets 42.8 43.4 5.8 1.7 6-3 



Fodder beet leaves 38.1 30.8 5.1 4.5 21.5 



