BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION, 99 
Mean of the 
Broom-Corn Seeds. ii II, two Analyses. 
Water (expelled at 110°C). 11.20% 11.93% 11.56%, 
Ash (free from C and CO.) 2.02 2.55 2.29 
Albuminoids ..... 6.97 7.56 7.27 
Carbohydrates (including fat) 73.14 71.89 72.26 
Cellulose (free from ash) . 6.67 6.57 6.62 
100.00 100.00 100.00 
Dry organic matter . . . 86.78 85.52 86.15 
a B72 3.25 3.29 
Pee ae 6s (eC L0-1.18 1.20-1.22 hi 
Peeters 2 se lel CLO 2.55 2.29 
The results of the foregoing analyses are in accord with those of von 
Bibra,* who found in Abyssinian doura seeds 11.95% of water, 1.860%, of 
ash, 3.90% of fat, and 1.34% of nitrogen, equal to 8.38 of albumi- 
noids; besides 3.82% of gum, 1.46% of sugar, and 70.23% of starch and 
husks. The ashes of these seeds contained among other things, 20$% of 
potash, nearly 519% of phosphoric acid, 15% of magnesia, and 14% of 
lime. In a sample of smaller seeds from the variety of doura called Joar 
in Hindostanee, that were grown at a height of 2,400 feet above the level 
of the sea and had been brought from India by H. Schlagentweit, von 
Bibra found 1.17% of nitrogen; 7. e., 7.31% of albuminoids. 
Sheir & Johnston f are reported to have found 7.43 4% of albuminoids in 
Guinea corn from the West Indies. 
Pierre { found 1.37% of nitrogen, equal to 8.56% of albuminoids, in 
seeds of the Chinese sugar sorghum, and Hervé Mangon is said to have 
found 3.13% of oil in such seeds. 
The Italian chemist Cossa, § found in seeds of the sugar-yielding sor- 
ghum; water 14.19%, ash 2.97% , nitrogen 1.57%, equal to albuminoids 
9.81%, fat 3.820, and dry organic matter 82.840. In the seeds of the 
sorghum that is not sweet [doura], he found 13.21% of water, 1.95% of 
ash, 1.4807 of nitrogen, or 9.250, of albuminoids, fat 3.180, and dry 
organic matter 84.8407. In the husks of the sweet sorghum seeds, he 
found 12.94% of water, 81.87%, organic matter, and 5.19%, ash, of 
which 58.90 was silica. In the husks of the other variety, he found 
12.084 of water, 83.12% organic matter, and 4.80% ash, of which 
67.94.07, was silica. 
It is to be noted, in this connection, that Johnston of Durham || found 
* In his “ Die Getreidearten und das Brod,” Niirnberg, 1861, p. 346. 
| “ Watts’s Dictionary of Chemistry,’ 2d Supplement, p. 814. 
t ‘ Annales de Chimie et de Physique,” 1859, 56. 44. 
§ As cited in “ Chemical News,” 1872, 26. 289. 
|| In his “ Chemistry of Common Life,” New York, 1871, 1. 89. 
