262 REPORT—1896. 
are less favourable, and with a ratio of tin to antimony above 2:1 quite 
unreliable (Nos. 18 and 19). In presence of an excess of antimony the 
method is satisfactory (Nos. 9-15). Classen’s published results on his 
method of separation do not give instances of Jarger proportions of tin 
to antimony than 2 to 1. The method requires care and special attention 
to the strength of current employed, the purity of the sodium sulphide 
used, and the thorough washing of the precipitated sulphides. 
Vote on the Separation of Arsenic from Antimony and Tin ciectrolytically. 
It has been shown by Classen that antimony is deposited free 
from arsenic from a solution of their sodium sulpho-salts, provided the 
latter is first completely oxidised to arsenic acid ; but in the presence of 
tin the arsenic must be removed from the solution before the electrolytic 
determination of the tin can be proceeded with, after the antimony has 
been deposited. Electrolysis, therefore, offers no advantage whatever 
under these conditions, and no experiments were carried out with 
mixtures of the three metals. The most rational method of procedure 
in presence of arsenic is to first remove it from the mixture by Fischer’s 
distillation method, as described by one of us (‘J. Soc. Chem. Ind.,’ 1889, 
viii. p. 256), and then to separate the tin and antimony electrolytically in 
the residual solution. 
The Carbohydrates of Cereal Straws.—First Report of the Committee, 
consisting of Professor R. WarinGton (Chairman), Mr. C.F. 
Cross, Mr. Manninc Prentice (Secretury). (Drawn up by 
Mr. Cross.) 
THe award of a grant of 50/. from the funds of the Association has 
enabled us to prosecute our researches without interruption. The branch 
of the investigation with which we have been occupied has been the 
determination of the precise nature of the furfural-yielding constituents 
of straws. 
During the summers of 1894 and 1895 we made investigations on the 
growing plant (barley) to ascertain the relative rate of accumulation of 
these furfuroids in the plant tissues. For these investigations we selected 
two of the typical experimental plots of the Royal Agricultural Society’s 
station at Woburn, the one being permanently unmanured, the other 
receiving a maximum treatment with fertilisers, the pair thus representing 
extreme conditions of soil nutrition. For the supplies of material we are 
indebted to Dr. Voelcker, the Society’s chemist. To Messrs. Voelcker we 
are also indebted for assistance and co-operation in other ways, a large 
part of our experimental work having been conducted at their labora- 
tories. 
These investigations gave us positive indications, in general terms, as to 
the origin and distribution of the furfuroids, and their relationship to the 
conditions of assimilation and secondary changes obtaining in the plant. 
Having laid this necessary foundation, we have during the past year 
applied ourselves to the particular problem of isolating these carbo- 
hydrates in a condition suitable for the direct diagnosis of their constitu- 
tion. The methods suggested by our general survey of their ‘ chemical 
