A petroleum ether soln. of the plastid pigments is sucked through a column of soluble starch. Carotene is not adsorbed and may be directly estimated colorimetrically in the soln. delivered at the bottom of the column, while the chlorophylls and the xanthophylls are adsorbed as separate bands. By eluting the adsorbed pigments with ethyl ether, a single column may be used for 6 or more successive separations. A 2 cm. X 15 cm. column accommodates an aliquot of extract representing about 0.3 g. of fresh green leaf tissue.