836 THE ROLE OF NITROGEN, ETC., II., 



in the germinating seeds. But, as to the composition of the 

 ungerminated, resting seeds, there is scarcely any information 

 available with regard to the distribution of their nitrogen. 



The very few investigations which are available on this subject 

 are the work of Schulze and his pupils at the Zurich Polytechnic, 

 and published in "Die landwirtschaftlichen Versuchs-Stationen" 

 and in " Hoppe-Seyler's Zeitschrift." In one of the first of his 

 papers(l) dealing with this important part of plant-composition 

 is a table of results, showing the ratio of the non-protein N to 

 the total N in some common agricultural plants, of which the 

 following are a few examples. 



Non-prot. N Of the 



in the seeds. total N. 



Legumes— Peas 0*543% = H'4% 



Vicia Faba 0*562 11"4 



Lupinus albus 0790 103 



Soybeans 0'668 101 



Vetches 0-504 10-0 



Lupinus luteus 0*628 8*8 



L. angustifolius 0'410 7'7 



Cereals -Wheat 0*240 11-2 



Oats 0-125 7-5 



Maize 0-090 49 



We note that the highest figure was obtained for peas, 11*4% 

 of the total nitrogen existing in some form other than protein. 

 Again, in coniferous seeds Schulze(2) found in 



Abies pectinata 05 % of the seed = 3-1 % of the total N. 



Piceaexcelsa 004 ,, 12 „ 



Pinus sylvestris 03 ,, 0*5 ,, 



From the above it is also apparent that those seeds richest in 

 nitrogen, viz., leguminous seeds, contain the largest proportion of 

 non-protein nitrogen-compounds. 



ii. Discussion of Methods. 



The majority of investigators have used Stutzer's reagent 

 (copper hydroxide) to separate proteins from plant-extracts; all 



