63 



ill the buriiiiiii' of tlie plant to ash was kept down to a very small per- 

 centage hy following the procedure described. 



The data obtained on examination of the ashes from the creosote 

 bush are presented in the following table: 



Table XII. — Analysis of the ash of the creosote bush. 



Weight of sample, grams 



Weight of ash, grams 



Ash. per cent of plant 



Na.jCOs. per ceur of ash 



XaCl.per cent of ash 



Na.2CO3.per cent of air-dried plant. 

 NaCl, per cent of air-dried plant ... 



8.5659 



.8282 



8.90 

 5.71 



.55 



Leaves I 

 and small Stems, 

 stems. 



3.6943 



.3795 



10.27 



13.18 



5.37 



l.a5 



.55 



6.6-t4o 

 .3710 



5.58 

 17.73 



3.55 

 .99 

 .19 



The dry leaves, Av^hich had been ground fine in a mortar, were 

 extracted with distilled water at the room temperature in the manner 

 described above. The extract failed to show the presence of either 

 sodium carbonate or sodium chloride, but appeared to be slightl}^ acid. 

 An extract made b}^ boiling the leaves with water also failed to show 

 any chlorides or carbonates. 



From the facts which have been presented it would appear that 

 while the plant does contain chlorine there is no sodium chloride 

 l^resent as such, and therefore it is i)robable that the chloi-ine is in 

 organic combination although nothing is definitely known of the 

 presence of such combinations in plants. The sodium is largely in 

 excess of the amount required to balance the chlorine as sodium chlo- 

 ride. This fact was shown by an actual determination of the sodium.^ 

 It would seem, therefore, that at least a large part of the sodium in the 

 plant is in organic combination, possibly with some organic acid, and, 

 on combustion or ultimate decay, of the plant tissues, much sodium 

 carbonate would be formed, as was found to be the case when the i)lant 

 was reduced to ash in the laboratory. 



It is interesting to note that the mineral constituents, as shown b}' 

 the ash anah'ses, had accumulated in the leaves to about twice the 

 amount in which they were held b}^ the stems. The difference is very 

 much less, however, if we consider onl}^ the water-soluble constitu- 

 ents in the aslies. Assuming, for the sake of argument, that the base 

 in combination witli the carbonic acid and chlorine as determined was 

 entirely sodium, its distribution is shown by the following table: 



Table XIII. — Distribution of sodium in leaves and stems. 



Percentages calculated for ash. 



Percentages calculated for air- 

 dried plant. 



Part of plant. 



From 

 NaoCOa. 



From 1 

 NaCl. 1 



Total. 



From 

 Na..C03. 



From 

 NaCl. 1 



Total. 



Leaves 



Stems 



1 



3.86 1 



.... 7.69 1 



1 

 1 



2.25 

 1.40 



6.11 

 9.09 



0.37 

 .43 



0.22 

 .07 



0.59 

 .50 



, ' Unfortunately it was not anticipated at the time this determination was made 



J that the exact fi;<ure would be reciuired in this discussion, and the data were not 

 entered in the laboratory notebook and have been mislaid, 



