of  the  Ashes  of  Plants.  53 1 
considerable  obstacles,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  collecting  proper 
specimens. 
T wo  methods  appeared  open  to  us  : either  to  have  the  various 
grasses  cultivated  in  plots  for  the  purpose  of  analysis  ; or  to  collect 
them  from  meadows  in  which  they  were  growing.  In  the  first  of 
these  plans  much  delay  would  necessarily  occur,  some  of  the 
grasses  requiring  several  years  to  come  to  perfection,  and  the 
specimens  being  all  grown  in  one  set  of  circumstances,  would 
scarcely  be  fit  for  comparison — the  soil  or  aspect  suited  to  one 
being  exactly  that  which  was  least  adapted  to  another.  The 
second  method — that  of  collecting  the  different  grasses  where 
they  could  be  best  obtained — seemed  in  many  ways  preferable, 
as  it  allowed  of  their  selection  from  soils  and  localities  in  which 
they  attained  a healthy  and  flourishing  condition. 
It  was  decided,  therefore,  to  collect  the  specimens  as  they  grew 
in  the  pastures,  an  undertaking  of  great  labour,  and  requiring  the 
care  of  some  one  well  acquainted  with  the  characters  and  habits 
of  the  different  grasses.  We  gladly  offer  our  public  thanks  to 
Mr.  Bravender,  of  Cirencester,  who  with  the  help  of  his  son 
kindly  undertook  for  us  this  most  laborious  work',  for  which  his 
great  practical  knowledge  of  the  subject  so  well  fitted  him.* 
The  specimens  were  collected  whilst  in  full  flower,  except  in 
cases  where  it  is  otherwise  stated.  They  were  carried  from 
the  fields  in  bundles  and  weighed  as  soon  as  possible,  quan- 
tities of  from  2 to  4 lbs.  being  preserved  and  transmitted  to 
London  by  railway  in  tin  cases.  The  whole  quantities  were  then 
dried  by  a prolonged  heat  of  from  130°  to  150°  Fahrenheit;  any 
loss  of  water  during  their  carriage  would  r.ot  therefore  affect  the 
results. 
We  are  particular  in  specifying  the  manner  in  which  the 
samples  were  preserved,  in  order  that  no  mistake  may  occur. 
There  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  a close  approximation  to  the 
real  per  centage  of  water  should  not  have  been  attained  in  this 
way ; but  whether  this  be  so  or  not,  the  proportion  of  ash  on  the 
dry  grass  is  not  open  to  any  question. 
The  following  table  gives  the  date  of  collection  of  some  natural 
grasses  and  the  nature  of  the  soil  from  which  they  were  taken. 
To  avoid  crowding  the  table  the  botanical  names  of  the  plants 
only  have  been  mentioned ; the  local  names  are  given  in  the  next 
table  following  : — 
* See  Prize  Essays  by  Mr.  Bravender:  Journal  of  the  Society. 
