264 MINERAL SUBSTANCES IN ORGANS OP PLANTS. 
ART. LVII. — ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF MINERAL SUB- 
STANCES IN INDIVIDUAL ORGANS OF PLANTS. 
By Dr. A. Vogel, Jun. 
The inorganic constituent parts are not in the same manner 
distributed throughout the whole plant, but they are in its 
several organs variously grouped. The ashes of the root 
and those of the trunk differ not only quantitatively, but 
also qualitatively, from the ashes of the leaves, flowers and 
fruit. Hertwig, at the request of Prof. Liebig, showed that 
this is the case with reference to some plants. For instance, 
the ashes of the tuber of potatoes are essentially different 
from the ashes of the herb of potatoes ; the ashes of the 
bark are again different from those of the wood. I made 
some experiments with residues of ashes of individual or- 
gans of plants, with the view of assisting in finding out the 
laws by which the distribution of fixed substances in the 
individual organs of plants are regulated. Since in these 
experiments it was not the ashes themselves, but rather 
their mutual relation which was to be considered, it was 
naturally totally indifferent which was the plant that be- 
came matter of investigation. I therefore selected such 
plants as could easily and completely be converted into 
ashes ; for the analysis of ashes containing much coal, viz., 
those which on continued ignition still contain 3 — 4 per 
cent, coal is always liable to great mistakes. 
Through the kindness of Counsellor de Martius, I obtained 
from the Royal Botanical Garden at Munich several parcels 
of plants, which, their individual organs having been sepa- 
rated and washed, were reduced to ashes. To separate the 
soluble parts from those that are insoluble, I treated the 
ashes with boiling water. The residue insoluble in water 
was then dissolved in muriatic acid, and the phosphoric 
earths as well as the oxide of iron were afterwards, by 
