240 HORTUS GRAMINEUS WOBURNENSIS. 



least. Of the grasses that are not indigenous, the long-awned or 

 barley-like sheep's-fescue, the fertile, and nerved meadow-grasses, 

 stand the highest. 



The composition of the nutritive matter of the leaves of these 

 grasses differs chiefly in the proportions of starch or mucilage, and 

 the bitter extractive and saline matters of which they are consti- 

 tuted; for gluten and sugar form but a small part of their composi- 

 tion, compared to that which they form in the culms or hay crop. 



By boiling equal weights of the nutritive matter of the leaves of 

 the following grasses in alcohol till the colouring matter was nearly 

 or quite discharged, and afterwards submitting the insoluble parts 

 to the action of cold and boiling water, and collecting and weigh- 

 ing the solid matters after evaporation, the results were as follow : 



100 grains of nutritive matter consisted of 



Alopecurm pratensis (meadow-foxtail) 64 8 28 

 Festuca pratensis (meadow-fescue) 59 20 20 

 Poa trimalis (rough-stalked meadow- 

 grass) - 82 8 10 

 Lolium perentie (rye-grass) - 65 7 28 

 Poa mrvata (nerved meadow-grass) - 83 8 9 

 Phleum pratense (meadow cat's-tail) - 74 10 16 

 Dactylis glomerata (cock's-foot) - 59 1 1 30 

 Avena pratensis (meadow-oat) - 80 10 10 

 Hordeum pratense (meadow-barley) - 58 8 34 

 Ho/cus mollis (creeping soft-grass) - 76 6 24 



[insoluble. 

 Agrostis stolonifera, var. latifolia 



(broad-leaved, or florin) - 55 5 40 

 White clover, when in flower, accord- 

 ing to Sir H. Davy - 77 2 7 14 

 Red clover, ditto - - 79 8 5 8 

 Vicia, var. sativa (tares) - 68 25 7 

 Trifolium melilotus officinalis (melilot 



clover) - - 53 42 

 Trifolium macrorhizum (long -rooted 



clover) - - 64 14 22 



The bitter extractive and saline matters are considered as 



assisting or modifying the functions of digestion, rather than 

 as being truly nutritive parts of the compound. The experiments 



