NOTES 
ON THE RESERVE-CARBOHYDRATES OP THE BULB 
OF THE HYACINTH ( Hyacinthus orientalis , L.).—Leclerc du Sablon 
states, contrary to previous workers on the subject, that the reserve- 
carbohydrate associated with starch in the bulb-scales of the Hyacinth is 
dextrin. In a paper in 1898 \ on the carbohydrate reserve-materials of 
bulbs and tubers, he characterizes the Hyacinth as agreeing with Ophrys , 
Lilium , and Tulipa , in possessing both starch and dextrin in its 
organs for storage. In a more recent paper 2 , he again draws attention 
to the occurrence of dextrin, as a reserve material, in the Hyacinth, 
Tulip, Lily, and Asphodel. 
Chevastelon 3 in 1894 examined amongst other reserve-organs the 
Hyacinth bulb, and describes the soluble reserve-carbohydrate as a 
kind of inulin. 
In a recent publication 4 on the carbohydrates of Monocotyledons, 
I have called attention to Chevastelon’s work, and also have placed 
the Hyacinth bulb, from my own microscopic and microchemical ex¬ 
aminations, in the group of reserve-organs containing both starch 
and an inulin easily soluble in cold water. Since the presence of 
inulin in this bulb was inferred, and not proved chemically, I have 
deemed it expedient to perform the experiment now to be described. 
The scales of the bulb were mashed up and extracted with cold 
water. Alcohol was gradually added to the extract. Some flocculent 
matter first separates out; this is chiefly the mucilage of the raphide- 
cells, which is rendered insoluble by a lower percentage of alcohol 
1 Leclerc du Sablon, Les reserves des bulbes et des tubercules. (Revue Generale 
de Botanique, 1898, p. 387.) 
2 Ibid., Sur la dextrine consideree comme matiere de reserve. (Comptes 
Rendus, cxxviii, 1899, PP* 944? 945-) 
3 Chevastelon, J., Pharmacie, 1895 [6], pp. 83-6, from Inaug. Diss. Paris, 1894. 
4 Parkin, Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. Lond., Series B, vol. cxci (1899), pp. 56 and 72, 
[Annals of Botany, Vol. XIV. No. LIII. March, 1900.] 
