912 Brenchley. — The Development of the Grain of Barley. 
a vehicle for the conveyance of nitrogen, but while the result from plot C 
would seem to corroborate this hypothesis, those from A and B do not bear 
it out, in that on a plot (A) with plenty of available nitrogen and of phos- 
phoric acid the proportion of nitrogen to phosphoric acid is practically the 
same as on a plot (B) with a deficiency of both substances. 
Other Determinations. Fig. 1 2 shows the percentage of sugar (dextrose) 
present in the dry matter of the grain. A slight fall occurs at the begin- 
Fig. 12. Percentage of dextrose in dry matter of the grain. 
ning, after which the percentage of dextrose is very constant, showing 
hardly the slightest decline to the very end. The actual dextrose present 
in i,oco grains (Fig. 13), after an initial fall, rises slightly for three days in 
A and B, remains constant for about nine to twelve days, then falls somewhat. 
_grams 
In C, however, the rise is prolonged over four three* day periods, and the fall 
sets in immediately, without any intervening period of constant level. 
The diastatic power of the grain was determined by macerating the 
grain and adding it to starch paste ; the quantity of maltose thus produced 
by ico parts of dry matter is shown in Fig. 14: the experimental error is 
very large, but it is evident that the diastatic power of the grain rises steadily 
for about twenty-seven to thirty-six days, and falls rapidly for a few days 
more, finally remaining approximately constant. 
