90 HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



SOME REMARKS RELATIVE TO THE CARBOHY- 

 DRATES OF AGRICULTURAL PLANTS AND 

 SEEDS. 



J. H. LINDSEY. 



Agricultural chemists have divided the dry matter of 

 plants into iive groups of substances, namely, crude ash, 

 crude fibre, crude fat or ether extract, and non-nitroge- 

 nous extract matter. These terms, as is well known, do not 

 stand for single ingredients, but rather for groups of sub- 

 stances having similar characteristics. The terms crude 

 fibre and extract matter are spoken of collectively as carbo- 

 h^^drates. Our knowledge of the individual substances com- 

 posing the fibre and extract matter has until recently been 

 rather vague. The investigations of Tollens, Schulze and 

 their pupils have, however, thrown considerable light, and 

 revealed the presence and characteristics of many of the sab- 

 stances entering into their composition. The crude fibre of 

 agricultural plants, as prepared hy the method employed by 

 Henneberg and Stohmaun, is now known to consist princi- 

 pally of dextroso-cellulose (a hexa-cellulose), combined with 

 more or less lignin or lignin acids. The fibre has also been 

 found to contain considerable pentosan, so intimately asso- 

 ciated with the hexa-cellulose as to be considered a penta- 

 cellulose. Whether the penta-cellulose is actually united 

 with the lignin as a ligno-cellulose is uncertain. The true 

 celluloses are characterized principally by their nearly com- 

 plete insolubility in dilute mineral acids and in F. Schulzes' 

 reagent, and by their solubility in copper ammonium oxide. 

 When cellulose is dissolved in quite concentrated sulphuric 

 acid, and the resulting product hydrolized with dilute acid, 

 Schulze has as a rule obtained dextrose ; hence the name 

 dextroso-cellulose. Schulze found that the cellulose obtained 

 from wheat bran, peas and lupine seeds yielded only dextrose ; 

 that obtained from rye straw, lupine pods, spruce wood and 



