MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



carmine red verging toward orange, indicating the presence 

 of coniferin. When treated for twelve hours with Javelle 

 water and then stained with chlor-iodide of zinc the pri- 

 mary lamella turns light brown ; with methylen blue it stains 

 deep blue, indicating the presence of pectic substances.* 

 The skeleton framework obtained after treatment with 

 nitric acid stains blue with cellulose stains. This behavior 

 towards various reagents shows that most of the cellulose 

 has been removed and that the lignin substances have been 

 transformed into substances readily soluble in nitric acid. 

 A number of chemical analyses were made of charred 

 wood, following the method given by Allen f for determin- 

 ing the compounds found in wood. The wood was finely 

 rasped and pulverized and dried at 100 C. After an 

 aqueous extraction, the wood was extracted with alcohol 

 and then with ether. 8.33% was found soluble in alcohol. 

 The dried residue was hard, and broke with a bright frac- 

 ture. It had all the attributes of a resin. Small quanti- 

 ties of pectic substances were found present, and a number 

 of other products which were not determined. The rotted 

 wood does not restore polarized light. 



WOOD BETWEEN THE HOLES. 



The wood between the rotted areas is, as in Taxodium, 

 perfectly sound as far as its structure is concerned. It 

 reacts with reagents similarly to healthy wood. In the 

 cells immediately surrounding the diseased spots, especially 

 in the wood parenchyma and medullary rays, a red-brown 

 substance is always present, which fills the cells as with 

 plugs. It is very resistant toward acids and while boiling 

 nitric acid dissolves the wood it does not affect this sub- 

 stance. Oxalic acid turns it black very quickly, also 

 potassium bichromate and iron salts. These reactions 



* Mangin, A. Sur la presence des composes pectiques dans les v6ge- 

 taux, (Comptes rend. etc. 109:577. 1889.) 



t Allen, A. A. Commercial organic analysis 1 :323. 1898. 

 50 



