THE ASH OF PLANTS. .159 
Bark. Wood. Leaf-stems. Leaves.Flower-stems. Calyx. 
Potash ............5.19.1 25.7 46.2 27.9 63.6 61.7 
Lime............... 6.8 42.9 21.7 29.3 9.3 12.3 
Magnesia ........... 1.7 5.0 3.0 2.6 1.3 5.9 
Sulphuric acid......trace trace 3.8 91 3.5 trace 
Phosphoric acid..... 6.0 19.2 14.8 22.4 WA 16.6 
BUG cnacrksevaiarns 11 2.6 1.0 49 0.7 ey. 
Chlorine ............ 2.8 6.1 12.2 5.1 47 2.4 
Ripe Fruit. 
Stamens. Petals. Green Fruit. Kernel. Green Brown 
Potash ..........0005 60.7 61.2 58.7 61.7 5.9 54.6 
DAME. 5 ccs:imaiscin arene 13.8 13.6 9.8 11.5 8.6 16.4 
Magnesia .......-5.. 3.1 3.8 2.4 0.6 | 2.4 
Sulphuric acid . trace trace 3.% 1.7 1.0 3.6 
Phosphoric acid ....19.5 17.0 20.8 22.8 5.3 18.6 
SHIGE vcen canis « OF 13 0.9 0.2 0.6 0.8 
OHOTINC sca encase ai: 28 3.8 48 2.0 6 5.2 
4, Similar kinds of plants, and especially the same 
parts of similar plants, exhibit a close general agreement 
in the composition of their ashes ; while plants which are 
unlike in their botanical characters are also unlike in the 
proportions of their fixed ingredients, 
The three plants, wheat, rye, and maize, belong, botanical- 
ly speaking, to the same natural order, graminew, and the 
ripe kernels yield ashes almost identical in composition. 
Barley and the oat are also graminaceous plants, and their 
seeds should give ashes of similar composition. That such 
is not the case is chiefly due to the fact, that, unlike the 
wheat, rye, and maize-kernel, the grains of barley and 
oats are closely invested with a husk, which forms a part 
of the kernel as ordinarily seen. This husk yields an ash 
which is rich in silica, and we can only properly compare 
barley and oats with wheat and rye, when the former are 
hulled, or the ash of the hulls is taken out of the account. 
There are varieties of both oats and barley, whose husks 
separate from the kernel—the so-called naked or skinless 
oats and naked or skinless barley—and the ashes of these 
grains agree quite nearly in composition with those of wheat, 
rye, and maize, as may be seen from the following table: 
