38374 BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. 
kernels of peaches and French prunes. Each of the analyses has, 
of course, a certain value for its own sake, in that it adds one new 
item to the lists of analyses of fodders from different countries that 
have been gradually accumulated by chemists. 
The character of the materials examined and the results of the 
analyses will appear from the following statements : — 
I. Date stones taken from a sample of light-colored dates, called 
“sugar-cured,” by the grocers. 
IL Date stones taken from a sample of the ordinary dark-colored 
dates, said to be “ molasses cured.” The dates of both Nos. I. and II. 
were in the usual pressed or impacted condition in which they are 
brought to this country in the so-called frails, or bags of basket-work. 
The flesh of the dates was completely removed from the stones in 
both instances, before the latter were prepared for analysis. It was 
found to be a very difficult matter to reduce the tough date stones to 
powder fine enough for an analysis. On pounding in a steel mortar 
the coarse grains obtained by the use of a drug mill each grain would 
be completely flattened under the pestle. It was only by repeatedly 
grinding, pounding, and sifting the material that the whole of it was 
finally reduced to the condition of a tolerably fine powder. 
III. Peach stones; that is to say, the hard part, or shell, of the 
kernel of the peach. The substance analyzed was a mixture of shells 
from two kinds of peaches obtained in this vicinity early in October, 
1874. The flesh of the peaches was carefully removed by rubbing 
and washing the stones. The proportion of hard external shell to the 
soft internal “meat” of the kernel was found, in March, 1875, to be 
as 90.82 of, is to 9.184%, in the one kind; and as 92.63 of is to 7.37% 
in the other. It had been noticed that the peaches of the last-named 
sort were less palatable than the others. 
IV. Prune stones; that is to say, the hard part or shell of the ker- 
nels of dried (but uncooked) French prunes from which the external 
fleshy part of the fruit had been completely removed by rubbing and 
washing. The relative weights of the hard shell and the soft “meat” 
within the shell were as 74.3% is to 25.70. 
