CUBAN SEED. This has the usual qualities of Cuban tobacco but with inferior fragrance and aroma to the native grown. Principally raised in Pennsylvania, New York, Wisconsin, Connecticut and Florida for the cigar trade. PERIQUE. A special variety of tobacco grown only in a small area of Louisiana. The leaf is medium in size, has a fine fiber with small stems. Tough, gummy and glossy. It is grown in a deep, rich soil and grows very rapidly. Its special characteristics are acquired in the curing, which is a special process peculiar to itself, and which will be described in the chapter on Manufactured Tobaccos. REFERENCES _Yearbooks of the United States Department of Agriculture._ 1914 and previous. HOAGLAND, I. G. _The Tobacco Industry._ In _Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association_. 1907. Vol. I, Nos. 2 and 4. JACOBSTEIN, M. _The Tobacco Industry in the United States._ New York, 1907. BILLINGS, E. R. _Tobacco; its history, varieties, culture, manufacture and commerce._ Hartford Conn., 1875. CHAPTER V THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE TOBACCO PLANT ORGANIC AND INORGANIC MATTERS CONTAINED IN TOBACCO AND THE PARTS THEY PLAY. ANALYSIS OF VARIOUS TOBACCOS. NICOTINE. THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE TOBACCO PLANT The tobacco plant when subjected to chemical analysis is found to contain all or most of the following substances: _Mineral Bases._ Potash, Lime, Magnesia, Oxides of Iron and Manganese, Ammonia, Silica. _Mineral Acids._ Nitric, Hydrochloric, Sulphuric and Phosphoric. _Organic Base._ Nicotine. _Organic Acids._ Malic, Citric, Acetic, Oxalic, Pectic and Ulmic. _Other Organic Substances._ Nicotianin, Green and Yellow Resin, Wax and Fat, Nitrogenous Substances and Cellulose. The substances which differentiate tobacco from other plants and form its chief characteristics are Nicotianin, Nicotine and Malic Acid. The percentage in which the important substances exist in tobacco is given below: Nicotine From 1 to 9% Malic and Citric Acids From 10 to 14% Oxalic Acid From 1 to 2% Resins, Oils and Fats From 4 to 6% Pectic Acid About 5% Cellulose From 7 to 8% Albumenoids About 25% Ash From 12 to 30% When tobacco is burned, chemical changes occur; the organic and other compounds are decomposed. The volatile matters pass off in the smoke if the combustion is complete, and the mineral ash remains. In ordinary pipe or other tobacco smoking, however, the combustion is not complete and many decomposition products remain with the mineral ash. In tobacco smoke the following can usually be found: Furfurol, Marsh Gas, Hydrogen Sulphide, Hydrogen Cyanide, Organic Acids, Phenols, Empyreumatic Oils, Pyridine, Picoline Series and possibly some Nicotine.