BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. 407 
to 16, 21, 32, 73, 75, 76 and 81%.* The explanation of this 
conflicting testimony is doubtless that in some instances the para- 
mannan, of which the nuts consist for the most part, was hydro- 
lized and dissolved well nigh completely by the alternate action of 
dilute acid and alkali, while in other instances it was but little 
acted upon. Indeed, Hoffmeister f operating upon ‘‘ cellulose”’ 
which had been prepared by his process (potassium chlorate and 
hydrochloric acid) from the ivory nut, found that he could dissolve 
more than 87% of this ‘‘ cellulose” in weak soda lye (of from 1% 
to 5%) by applying the solvent in repeated portions. It is note- 
worthy also that Koch, and Winterstein,{ have remarked that a 
larger quantity of xylan can be dissolved out from the ‘‘ cellulose” 
of woods after the action of F. Schulze’s mixture of nitric acid 
and potassium chlorate than will dissolve before the application of 
this reagent. 
On the other hand, peach stones gave by the Weende method 
a very large percentage of crude fibre (74.77%) while there was 
found in another sample, by Lange’s K H O process, but little more 
than 47%. I hope to study the question as to what influence, 
if any, the presence of ‘‘ lignin” in the peach stones may per- 
haps have had to hinder the action of the dilute Weende reagents. 
On attempting to collate in the form of a complete analysis any 
of the results of the examination of woods, as here recorded, it 
will appear at once that the sum of the several constituents in any 
given wood, as above determined, are far enough from expressing 
the total composition of the wood. On the contrary, the results 
teach an emphatic lesson as to the limitations of the analytical 
processes employed, and they point to the urgent need there is of 
devising new and improved methods. As an example, the analy- 
sis of the outer wood of the birch tree felled in October may be 
stated as follows :— 
* Compare Reiss’s discussion of the question in Landwirthschaftliche Jahr- 
biicher. 1889, 18. 743, 745. 
+ Landwirthschaftliche Jahrbiicher. 1889, 18. 772. 
t Zeitschrift fiir physiologische Chemie. 17. 396. 
