Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-02-11
AGRICULTURAL PAPERS.
A SERIES PREPARED ESPECIALLY FOR
TIE "REcoRD-UNIoN."
Presenting Instruction Contained In Lee
lures from the Chair Of AgricuI-
ture, State University.


NTH PAPER-THE ACIDs-THR FATS AND
oILs-ALBgMINoIDs-c OF ONE
DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT.
1t will be remembered that in speaking
OF the proximate elements, we enumerated
them as six in number, and as being those
substances into which any plant may be
resolved by simple, and generally mechani.
cal, means. The six proximate elements
are water the cellulose group, or amy
loids the pectose group vegetable acids !;
fats and oils and the albuminoids, or pro-
teine bodies. We have yet to speak of the
last three groups, but from want of space
can only do 80 in brief and very general
manner.
The vegetable acids are quite numerous.
Many families of the vegetable kingdom
have acids peculiar to themselves while,
again, some of the vegetable acids are
found in almost every class and product
of plants. OF these acids the principal
ones are oxalic, tartaric, malic and citric
acids. They are mostly found in fruits,
and occur either in the free state or in CON-
bination with bases as salts.
THESE ACIDS
Constitute the sour substances of all fruits,
and of many plants. In plants the acids
are for the most part found dissolved in the
sap, and as salts of lime, potash and soda.
Oxalic acid is found in large quantities in
garden sorrel and in rhubarb. 1t is of
common use in the household to remove
ink stains. Malic acid, when pure, is
white crystalline body of an intensely sour
taste. 1t is of very general occurrence in
plants; is the chief sour substance of
many of the fruits, and is often en-
eountered in the leaves of tobacco
as the malate of lime. Tartaric, like
malic acid, is sour, and when pure, a
CLASSY, crystalline body. 1t is abundant in
the juice OF the grape, from which cream
of tartar tbitartrate of potash) is manu-
featured Like the other acids, it is
sommon ingredient of many fruits and
plants. Citric acid ID probably more or
less familiar with everyone. 1t can be OBJ
tanned in the drug stores in the form of
large, white, semi Opaque crystals; quite
soluble IN water, and very sour. 1t occurs
free in unripe tomatoes and lemons, in
combination with lime in tobacco, and in
connection with mallc acid in many of the
fruits. These four principal vegetable
acids may be found occurring together in
many plants and fruits. They do not diff
fer greatly in chemical composition, yet
it is with difficulty that they can be
transformed, one into the other, by artii-
eial means. Yet this does not signify but
L. L
transformations are commonly and easily
effected-as we have no doubt they are
In almost every stage of growth and devel-
opment. Oxalc, of the four acids, seems
to be the most stable. 1t may be prepared
from the other three by boiling them with
nitric acid, or by heating with caustic pot
ash. 1t may also be prepared by heating
starch, dextrine, cellulose and the sugars
with nitric acid or caustic potash. The
oxalic acid of commerce is manufactured
from starch and sawdust by this process.
It is not necessary to go very extensively
into the details of
THE FATS AND OILS.
Although occurring in all plants, they are
chiefly found in seeds, many of which con-
tain from 10 to 20 per cent. of oil. We
may mention the seeds of the peanut, but
ternut, almond, cotton, hemp and fax
as quite common examples of oily seeds,
the oil of which can in great part be ex-
tracted by simple pressure. OIL exists IN
maize and the cereal grains in appreciable
quantities. The oils and fats are extracted
from seeds By treating them with ether,
benzine or sulphide of carbon. Small
quantities of wax are found in many varie-
ties of plants it is this presence of wax
which imparts the glossy coat to some
leaves and the bloom to many fruits. 1t
is hardly possible to find any two of the
oils fats, or kinds of wax which are ex-
actly alike; vet no matter how greatly
they differ from each other they seem all
to be mixtures of few elementary fats.
These elementary fats are three in number
-stearine, palmine and oleine. They
are composed of carbon, hydrogen
and oxygen, with the first FREEDOM
mating. Stearine is the principal ingre-
dent of tallow, and is the most abundant
of all fats. 1t seems to be characteristic
ingredient of the harder fats. Palmine
is named from the palm oil of Africa, of
which it ia large ingredient. Il also ex-
lists largely in butter, beeswax and veget-
able way. Oleine occurs most abundantly
in oils. It is the liquid ingredient of fats,
and may be prepared for olive oil by bring
ing it to freezing temperature, which
solidifes the stearine and palmne, leaving
the olejne in the liquid form. 1t is a char
acteristie of these fats that on being
heated with strong potash or soda I've,
they form soaps with glycerine as BIZ
product. Glyeerine is commodity too
well known TO need description johnson
describes it as "kind OF liquid
sugar" During tie process of So
ponifcation, each of the three element
ary fats forms a fatty acid They are
known respectively as stesric, palmic and
cleic acids These In turn combine with
potash and soda to form the stearate, palm
itate and oleste of potash or soda, as the
case may be. Common soap is mixture
of these three products III variable proper
tons The potash compounds, together
with water aud glycerine, form soft soaps,
while hard soaps are usually the soda COM
pounds OF the fatty acids. Besides these
three primary fats, which are composed OF
carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, the spinal
cord, animal brains, yolk of eggs and some
grains contain
DISTINCT KIND OF FAT,
Known as phosphoriz.d fat, or protsgon,
which differs from the other fats in con-
tanning, besides carbon. hydrogen and
oxygen, ANAL amount of phosphorus.
An oil has been made from the sugar pea
which contained one and quarter per
cent. of phosphorus. The phosphorus in
the oil Of the grains varies from enc
quarter per cent. In wheat to nearly one
half per cent. in oats, with barley and rye
intermediates. they having respectively
twenty eight and thirty one -hundredths
of one per cent. of phosphorus. The oils
of fax, mustard, millet, poppy, and Of the
COLA and chocolate beans. ara thought to
contain no phosphorus. During the life
and development of many plants there
seems to be a sort of double transformation
between members of the cellulose group
and the ellis and fats. For instance, many
oily seeds, when immature, contain starch,
which by the process of ripening is changed
into oil, and this oil, during the germina-
ton of the seeds, is again changed into
some member of the eellulose group, /. e,
starch, sugar, ETC. It has been noticed
in growing sugar cane that the sugar il
least where the sap is most abundant, and
vice versa. This fact, with others of the
..n,a pabrri would seem 70 confirm the