XXil. ABSTRACT OF PROCEEDINGS. 
2. ‘‘Aluminium the chief inorganic element in a Proteaceous 
tree, and the occurrence of Aluminium Succinate in 
trees of this species,’ by HENRY G. SMITH, F.C.S., 
Assistant Curator, Technological Museum, Sydney. 
In this paper the author announces the discovery of a 
flowering plant which uses the element aluminium in large 
quantities in its construction, and thus differs in this respect, 
from all other Phanerogams. This plant, Orites excelsa, 
R. Br., (N.O. Proteaceze) is one of the “ Silky Oaks ”’ of 
Australia, and occurs plentifully in northern New South 
Wales and Queensland. It is a tall tree and reaches a 
diameter of three feet. A section of a tree from Queens- 
land was exhibited which was three feet in diameter. In 
the centre of this tree was a large deposit of a basic 
aluminium succinate of the formula Al,(C,H,O,);A1,0;. The 
ash of the wood furthest from the deposit contained 79°61 
per cent. of alumina, a considerably larger amount than 
had previously been found in any of the Cryptogams, in 
which alone aluminium was supposed to occur. This speci- 
men was evidently an abnormal one in regard to the large 
amount of alumina, and the deposit of aluminium succinate 
is evidently nature’s method of getting rid of an excess of 
aluminium. Three other samples of the trees of this 
species from northern New South Wales were investigated, 
and in the ash of all these large quantities of alumina were 
found, ranging in amount from 36 to 43 per cent. A large 
amount of the alumina in the ash was present as an 
aluminate of potash soluble in water, and as no carbonate 
of potash was detected it is supposed that the potassium 
aluminate was originally present in the tree as such. 
In the ash of the sample from Mullimbimby, cobalt was 
found, together with 3 per cent. of manganese, so that 
probably cobaltiferous manganese occurs in that locality. 
Free normal butyric acid was found in the succinate 
