242 LETTER-FILES OF S. W. JOHNSON 



things than we do now! And what if Hammond's cobra- 

 poison albuminoid should turn out to be a fact? — But one 

 question in that connection: "Why do you omit animal glue 

 from your enumeration? My students have asked me that 

 question repeatedly. Ever yours truly, E. W. Hilgard. 



(J. B. L TO S. W. J.) 



Eothamsted, St. Albans, April 28, 1890. 



My dear Sir, — . . , Your books have been of great service 

 to myself as well as to all students in agriculture. This 

 science is occupying a great many more people's attention 

 than was the case when I first began my experiments and it 

 would appear that your countrymen will before very long 

 occupy a very prominent place in agricultural investigation. 

 Believe me. Sincerely yours, J. B. Lawes. 



(S. W. J. TO F. H. S.) 



New Haven, Ct., May 10th, 1890. 



Dear Storer, — Apropos of "avenin" of Sanson — I wrote 

 somewhat wrong in stating H. C. G. (1890) p. 121, that 

 Osborne was not "able to find any evidence of the presence 

 of such a body in oats." He did find "a brown, granular, 

 non-cryst. substance." He did not find a substance of alka- 

 loidal character. Sanson's evidence of "alkaloidal character" 

 was derived from its action on the nerve-system, and his view 

 was apparently confirmed by finding a large content of nitro- 

 gen. 



The body Osborne got was undoubtedly an albuminoid as 

 that Sammelwort is now understood. Since all that in H. C. G. 

 was printed, S. Martin (Berliner Berichte XXII — 770 e from 

 Proc. Roy. Soc. 46 100-108) asserts that the albumose of the 

 "prayer bean," Ahrus precatorius, is a poison deadly in doses 

 of 0.060 gm. per kilo of animal live weight when administered 

 in aqueous solution by subcutaneous injection. Martin says 

 the poison-symptoms are the same as those produced by 



