MACROZAMIA SPIRALIS. 
Industry. The bulbs always arrived in excellent condition, and grate- 
ful acknowledgment is made to the Forestry Commissioners for their 
valuable assistance in providing the raw material.* 
On arrival of a batch of bulbs at the University, the leaves were 
stripped, each bulb being weighed, the outer core removed and weighed, 
and the weight of inner core obtained by difference. The outer and 
inner portions were separately ground, first through a coarse sieve and 
afterwards through a fine sieve. ‘The material was then sampled, and 
several pounds weight were thoroughly air-dried and kept for the 
chemical investigation. ‘The loss of moisture on. air-drying was deter- 
mined on a kilogram portion. The material when air-dried could be 
kept, without fear of decomposition, until an opportunity for the 
chemical investigation presented itself. The grinding of a wet fibrous 
material such as macrozamia is a difficult matter, but it was carried 
out with satisfaction in the 5 horse-power Van Gelder grinder machine 
which thad been installed for the purpose. ; 
Four different parcels of bulbs were received from the Forestry 
Commissioners—two from Bateman’s Bay (South Coast) and one 
from Wyong, a district about 50 miles north of Sydney, and one from 
Murwillumbah, Tweed River. The six bulbs from Wyong were small, 
and had evidently been dug out of sandy soil; on account of their small 
size these bulbs received were taken for investigation in three lots of 
two bulbs each. ‘The bulbs from Murwillumbah were more cylindrical 
in shape, and grew chiefly above ground. The bulbs from Bateman’s 
Bay were similar to those from Wyong in shape, but were larger and 
grew chiefly above ground. They were, however, considerably older 
than those from Wyong. All. the specimens were identified by Mr. J. 
H. Maiden, F.R.S., Director of the Botanic Gardens, Sydney, as 
Macrozamia spiralis. The approximate age of the bulbs was computed 
by counting the annual growths. 
The largest of the bulbs weighed 888 Ibs., and its age was computed to 
be 120 years; the smallest weighed only 18 Ibs., its age being 65 years. 
The average yearly increase in weight during the total period of growth, 
for the inner core, ranged from 0.1 to 1.6 lbs., and for the outer core, 
from 0.1 to 4.3 lbs. 
II.—Merunops or INVESTIGATION. 
In order to obtain alcohol from macrozamia, the contained starch 
must first be converted to sugar and then fermented. In a preliminary 
investigation, inversion of the starch was effected by both diastase and 
by acid hydrolysis, and the yields of alcohol compared. The results 
were very similar, those from the acid hydrolysis being generally slightly 
greater. For the main investigation, acid hydrolysis was chosen, chiefly 
because better control is obtained. The chemical analysis was carried 
out by Miss Hindmarsh; B.Sc., Demonstrator in Physiology, Sydney 
University, and Mr, A. Kellick, Demonstrator in Chemistry, Sydney 
University. a, 
_* The Forestry Commission, N.S.W., advises that the cost of obtaining and delivering on wharf 
at Bateman’s Bay of the cores only (outer covering removed) would be about 20s. per ton.— 
Ep. 8. and I. 
47t 
