108 BOTANY 
added to the same material and the test proceeded 
with in the usual way. 
In seeds the reserves are to support the seedling till 
it can gather nourishment for itself. All seeds contain 
protein to supply nitrogen, and either carbohydrate or 
oil to supply energy. The carbohydrate, as in the pea, 
bean, and all cereals, is chiefly starch, though rye 
contains a good deal of sugar. In the castor bean there 
is oil instead of starch. The date endosperm is 
cellulose. 
In roots, the reserve is chiefly carbohydrate. The 
parsnip and kumara contain both starch and sugar, 
the carrot and turnip sugar only. The red beet con- 
tains cane sugar, which, differing from glucose or 
grape sugar, which is the form usually found in fruit 
and vegetables, does not at once respond to the 
Fehling’s solution test. This is, as a rule, true only 
of the long-rooted beet, since the turnip-rooted variety 
usually contains grape, as weil as cane sugar. Slice 
some red beet and boil it for an hour or more in water 
to which a few drops of strong sulphuric acid have 
been added. Kill the acid with carbonate of soda and 
then test for sugar. The usual yellow precipitate will 
be obtained. The cane sugar has been changed into 
invert sugar, which responds at once to the Fehling’s 
solution test. The dahlia root contains the carbo- 
hydrate inulin, which may be precipitated with 
methylated spirit, and gives a yellow colour with 
iodine. In biennials, such as the parsnip, carrot, and 
turnip, the reserve is accumulated in the first year, to 
produce flower and fruit in the second, while in 
kumara and dahlia it is to support the young shoot 
which, in the spring, sprouts from the stool to form 
the new season’s plant. 
In modified stems, such as the potato tuber and 
various rhizomes and corms, starch is found in plenty. 
The potato also will, as a rule, be found to contain a 
