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EXTRACTS \ 



PBOM 



DOMESTIC AND FOEEIGN JOUEMLS. 



ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF MINERAL SUBSTANCES, , 

 IN INDIVIDUAL ORGANS OF PLANTS. 



BY DR. A. VOGEL, JUN.* 



It has been ascertained by direct experiment, that the quantity 

 of inorganic matter assimilated by plants differs raateriallyin the 

 different organs to which it has been distributed. Hertwig, 

 at the suggestion of Prof. Liebig, demonstrated that the earthy 

 matter of the tubers of the potatoe plant, differed from those of 

 the stalks, or the herbaceous parts. V ogel, Jun., in order to set at 

 rest the question generally, undertook the examination of several 

 species of plants, the results of which have established the fact, 

 that the inorganic matters of the root, differ from those of the 

 trunk, both in kind and quantity. The following may be stated 

 as an example of the results which have been obtained by an ana- 

 lysis of the ashes of the different parts of a vegetable ; the one 

 employed was a species of pear. (Pyrus spectabilis.)! 



1. From the trunk, Vogel obtained from the ashes 82 per cent 

 of carbonate of lime. And 8 per cent of the insoluble phos* 

 phates of lime and magnesia, with a slight admixture of magnesia. 



2. The ashes of the leaves contain about 7 per cent of soluble 

 alkaline carbonates, with traces of sulphate of potash, chloride of 

 sodium, (common salt,) and phosphate of potash. The carbonate 

 of lime, is 10 per cent less in the leaves than in the trunk. 

 While the phosphate of lime and magnesia amount to 10. The 

 quantity of magnesia is nearly twofold ; 4.9 per cent, it is now 

 9.76 per cent. 



3. The ashes of fruits contain of soluble parts 33 . 1 per cent. 

 The quantity of carbonate of lime has diminished from 82 per 

 cent, to 37 per cent, whereas the phosphate of lime and magnesia, 

 has augmented to 18 per cent ; the phosphoric combinations taken 

 together, amount in the fruits to over one third, or to 36.38 per 



* Annalen der. Chemie and Pharmacie, July, 1844. 



