3 16  Examination  of  Commercial  Ginger.  {Am'j,uiyr,'i908!'rrD' 
particles  of  starchy  material  formed  from  the  altered  starch  grains. 
When  viewed  under  the  micro-polariscope,  while  the  cross  may 
appear  to  be  less  distinct  in  some  of  the  grains,  they  do  not  for  the 
most  part  seem  to  have  lost  their  anisotropic  character,  or  to  have 
been  changed  in  constitution. 
CHEMICAL  EXAMINATION. 
A  number  of  excellent  papers  on  the  chemical  examination  of 
ginger  have  been  published  abroad,  one  of  the  most  important  of 
these  being  the  one  by  Reich,10  in  which  the  various  commercial 
sorts  as  well  as  exhausted  ginger  are  considered.  The  most  com- 
plete series  of  analyses  that  have  thus  far  been  made  in  this  country 
is  that  published  by  Winton  and  Mitchell.11 
The  commercial  gingers  already  enumerated  were  also  examined 
chemically.  The  methods  followed  were  those  recommended  by  the 
Association  of  Official  Agricultural  Chemists,  with  the  exception  of 
that  recommended  for  the  determination  of  starch,  which  was  esti- 
mated according  to  Allihn's  original  method  for  the  determination 
of  dextrose. 
The  following  data  were  obtained  in  the  examination  of  samples 
of  known  purity : 
TABLE  No.  i. 
Total  Ash. 
Ash  Insoluble 
in  10  per  cent. 
Hydrochloric 
Acid. 
Cold  Water 
Extract. 
Volatile  Ether 
Extract. 
>w 
Alcoholic 
Extract. 
Crude  Fiber. 
Starch  by  Di- 
rect Acid 
Conversion. 
lyime  as 
Calcium  Oxide. 
574 
I2'62 
7-17 
8 '49 
7-20 
262 
55"°7 
0'12 
Calcutta   
7  "47 
2*02 
14*20 
3  06 
6-50 
6-40 
5  "46 
47-89 
0-13 
5 '64 
o'55 
I?-08 
4-62 
6-42 
776 
1 -64 
48  77 
0*33 
6'43 
0-85 
H'30 
7'03 
6-68 
8-04 
3-°6 
52  00 
0-58 
3'88 
o-45 
1554 
3*23 
7  "30 
5-80 
1-44 
58-97 
0-17 
6-i6 
0-69 
14-40 
7'39 
7-01 
10  48 
1 '60 
55-97 
i-68 
The  following  figures  were  obtained  in  the  examination  of  the 
ash  of  coarsely  ground  gingers  of  known  purity.  Ail  of  the  figures 
given  represent  the  average  of  two  samples,  except  in  the  case  of 
Calcutta  ginger,  in  which  the  figures  are  the  average  of  those 
obtained  in  the  examination  of  four  samples. 
