350  Experiments  with  the  Sunflower.  {Am"AJug?,r'if76arm' 
potassa.  The  distillate  had  an  alkaline  reaction,  and  its  odor  reminded 
of  that  of  conium  ;  but,  when  neutralized  with  an  acid,  the  distillate 
was  neither  precipitated  by  tannin  nor  by  iodohydrargyrate  of  potas- 
sium ;  it  was  probably  ammonia  contaminated  with  some  odorous  pro- 
duct of  decomposition. 
SOME  PRACTICAL  EXPERIMENTS  WITH  THE  SUNFLOWER. 
BY   G.   C.  WITTSTEIN.1 
Helianthus  annuus  is  largely  cultivated  in  Russia  and  Hungary,  partly 
on  account  of  the  agreeable  fixed  oil  and  partly  for  the  presscakes, 
which  are  a  valuable  fodder.  i6,coo  strong,  healthy  plants  can  be 
raised  on  one  Bavarian  acre  (Tagwerk),  which  holds  3,407  square 
metres.  By  numerous  experiments,  it  was  ascertained  that  each  indi- 
vidual weighs  on  an  average  kilos,  while  fresh,  and  of  this  weight 
I  kilo  is  due  to  the  seeds,  one-half  of  the  remainder  (2J  kilos)  being  stem, 
and  the  other  half  (2J  kilos)  leaves,  receptacles  and  roots.  The  yield 
per  acre  is  therefore  40,000  kilos  of  stem,  40,000  kilos  of  leaves,  etc., 
and  4,000  kilos  of  fruit  (seeds).  The  entire  plant,  deprived  of  the 
fruit,  was  cut  fine,  when,  on  drying  in  the  air,  it  lost  68  per  cent.,  and 
at  iio°C.  altogether  72*25  per  cent.,  or  nearly  three-fourths  of  its 
weight  ;  the  remaining  27*75  parts  left  on  incineration  1*9  parts  of 
ashes,  in  which  were  found  62*199  potassium  carbonate,  2*930  sodium 
carbonate,  7*000  potassium  chloride  and  2*772  sodium  chloride,  or 
altogether  74*901  per  cent,  soluble  in  water,  and  25*099  per  cent,  in- 
soluble in  water,  consisting  of  4*210  calcium  carbonate,  13*916  calcium 
phosphate,  0*672  aluminum  phosphate,  0*323  ferric  phosphate,  5*291 
magnesia  and  0*687  silicic  acid.  By  leeching  the  ashes  and  evaporat- 
ing the  solution  the  resulting  potash  should  contain  82*83  potassium 
carbonate  ;  however,  in  consequence  of  a  partial  reaction  with  the 
calcium  phosphate,  the  amount  of  carbonate  was  found  to  have  de- 
creased to  75*50  per  cent.,  yielding  still  a  good  commercial  potash. 
Different  samples  of  fruit  yielded  from  41  to  60  per  cent,  of  shells, 
and  from  40  to  59  per  cent,  of  kernels,  the  latter  yielding  16*25  to 
28  per  cent,  of  fixed  oil,  calculated  for  the  weight  of  the  fruit,  or  40*6 
to  50*5  per  cent.,  calculated  for  the  kernel  alone.    The  oil  was  ex- 
1  Abstract  from  a  paper  published  in  "Archiv  der  Pharmacie,"  April,  and  com- 
municated by  the  author. 
