BULLETIN No. 90a. 
5 
be partly due to this alkaloid, it cannot be said that they are wholly 
due to it. Some tobaccos contain little or no nicotine, yet smokers 
consider cigars made from this tobacco to be strong. 
Nicotianine ( C 2 S II 3 %Ns 0 3 ).—A volatile substance of the con¬ 
sistency and appearance of camphor, possessing the odor of tobacco, 
and an acrid, aromatic, and bitter taste. It forms no compounds 
with acids or alkalies, and is supposed to be the substance to which 
the characteristic odor and flavor of tobacco are chiefly due. 
Resinous and Fatty Substances .—Under this head we include the 
resin, wax, oil, and fat, the nature of which, as yet, little is known. 
These substances are present in considerable proportions in tobacco, 
and it is probable that the odor of the smoke is greatly influenced 
by them. 
Starch ( C 6 II 10 O 5 ) n .—Starch exists in tobacco, as in most plants, 
but in smaller proportions. 
Glucose {C 6 H 12 0 6 ).—This sugar is present in small proportions in 
the green plant, but it is generally stated that cured tobacco contains 
no sugar. While this is true in many cases, there are varieties which 
have a large percentage of sug^ir, which, when cured by certain 
processes, nearly the entire amount remains unchanged in the leaf. 
Such is the case with the tobacco analyzed and reported in this bul¬ 
letin. The carefully regulated drying by artificial heat has reduced 
the fermentation to a minimum, and left the glucose unchanged. 
Nitrogenous Substances .—Nitrogen is present in small quantities in 
nicotine, nicotianine, ammonia, and nitric acid, but there are much 
larger proportions in nitrogenous organic substances. These latter 
are to be regarded as products altered from the original albuminous 
substances present in the green leaf. 
Pectic acid {CmH^ON is supposed to exist in tobacco as calcium 
pectate. It is found in the largest proportions in the stem, and 
smallest in the stalk. This insoluble lime-salt, together with cellu¬ 
lose, gives stiffness to the leaf. 
Acetic acid ( C 2 H u 0 2 ) is present in nearly all tobaccos in small 
proportions, and is probably, for the most part, the product of fer¬ 
mentative changes. 
Malic acid {C U II 6 0 5 ) forms from six to ten per cent, of the cured 
leaf, while in the stalk the amount is very small. 
Citric (C 6 F[s 0 7 ) and Oxalic acid {C 2 H 2 0 4 ) are always present in 
tobacco in varying but usually small proportions. 
Nitric acid {IINO 3 ) is sometimes present to the extent of three 
to four per cent, of the cured leaf, while in other cases there is not 
a trace to be found. Nessler attributed the presence of this sub¬ 
stance to the decomposition of other nitrogenous substances by fer¬ 
mentation. It is more probable, however, that the nitric acid was 
taken in through the roots in the process of nutrition, as will be 
shown in this bulletin under the head of “Nitrates in Tobacco.” 
