Prof. G. Gulliver on Raphides. 509 
matter: incinerated afterwards, the little ash left is chiefly 
silica. 
“3, Leaf of Colocasia antiquorum.—Burnt, it leaves a good deal 
of white ash, which, before the blowpipe, shines with a bright 
white light. The ash consists principally of lime, with a trace of 
phosphate of lime. The raphides, I infer, consist of oxalate of 
lime: they are not dissolved by dilute acetic acid. 
“4, Officinal Veratrum album.—The central or pithy part seems 
to contain but few raphides, but many large starch-granules ; the 
~ outer, firmer (liber ?), contains more raphides, but not numerous; 
the starch-granules there are very small; the black cortex con- 
tains very few indeed of the former, and none of the latter. A 
portion of the whole yields but little ash: the ash shines with a 
red light when strongly heated. It contains a little phosphate of 
lime, and lime, and a trace of iron: the iron, I believe, imparts 
colour to the bark. It contains also a little magnesia. The 
raphides, I believe, consist of oxalate of lime; the numbers being 
small, and phosphate of lime in minute quantity being present, 
it is not easy to speak with any certainty of their composition. 
“5. Bulb.scale of Shallot.—Burnt, it leaves a white ash, 
retaining the form of the scale, shrunken, in which the crystals 
may be seen, their form being unaltered. The ash effervesces 
with acid, and almost entirely dissolves, a trace of silica only 
remaining. The crystals (4-sided prisms) appear to consist of 
oxalate of lime and magnesia. 
“6. Leaf of Heliconta aurantiaca.—It yields, when burnt, a 
small quantity of fusible ash: the fused ash is a hard glass, 
resisting the action of muriatic acid. Besides the raphides, 
there are a few minute prisms in the leaf. The leaf, digested in 
dilute muriatic acid, affords a solution which is precipitated by 
ammonia, as if it contained oxalate of lime, and afterwards by 
phosphate of soda. Perhaps the prisms consist of oxalate of 
lime, and the raphides of oxalate of lime and magnesia. 
“7, Officinal Urginea Scilla—Burnt, it leaves a good deal of 
white ash, which emits a bright white light when strongly heated. 
The ash consists chiefly of lime, with a little magnesia and a trace 
of phosphate of lime. The raphides, I infer from the slow action 
of acetic acid on them, and from their solution being precipitated 
by ammonia, consist principally of oxalate of lime. 
“ Roots of Galium Mollugo and officinal Jamaica and Guate- 
mala Sarze.—The raphides appear to consist of phosphate of 
lime, judging from their ready solubility in dilute acetic acid, 
and from the composition of the ash, in which, besides phos- 
phate of lime, there is some lime and magnesia.” 
The results obtained by this eminent physiologist, including 
his examination of Epilobium (‘ Annals,’ May 1861, p. 423), 
