2 9 4 



U. SUZUKI. 



In ioo parts of total nitrogen. 



Total nitrogen. 



IOO.O 



100.0 



ICO.O 



Albuminoid nitrogen. 



80.8 



75-4 



75-5 



Theine nitrogen. 



IO -3 



1 1.4 



19.4 



Nitrogen in other forms. 



8.9 



13.2 



5-i 



Leaves developed in the dark contain a greater percentage 

 of theine than those grown in day light, but here it must be 

 remarked that the former are very poor in other organic matters. 

 Theine does not increase directly by the application of nitrates as 

 above rr» "Uoned, hence it is not a synthetical product analogous 

 to asp^ragin ; The following table shows the various amounts of 

 theine-n' ogen in % of total nitrogen in different parts of the 

 tea slants : 



Bark of Coty- Stems and . Le aves 0 £ Leaves 



stems of ledons of roots of Etiolated ' of full 



Seed. full grown young young seedlings. irtHnCT<i grown 

 plants. seedlings, seedlings. plants. 



none doubtful trace. 0.9 2 -3-3-o 3.2-3.6 12. 7-13. 6 12. 5-13. 4 



Further theine does not stand in any relation to protein 

 production. An observation of Miyachi (1) also supports this 

 view. He found that theine is a poor source of nitrogen for 

 fungi and that in old leaves theine increases by the process of 

 starvation, that is by keeping them in a dark place, thus : — 



Theine-nitrogen in % of total nitrogen : 



Original leaves. Starved leaves. 



II.TS 13.74 



Here the processes of metabolism show more connection 

 with theine production than those of assimilation and synthesis 

 do. It remained however to be decided whether in the presence 

 of a large amount of carbohydrates and in the absence of any 

 other suitable source of nitrogen, theine may be used as a source 

 of nitrogen for building up proteids in the tea leaves. Here the 

 following points have to be mentioned. 



According to Kellner (2> the quantity of theine in the leaves 

 gradually decreases as they become older. 



(') Bull. College of Agr. Komaba. Tokyo, vol II. No. 7. p. 460. 

 (-) Versuclis-Stationen 39. Bull. Coll. Agr. Tokyo, vol I. 



