  We present an analysis of the Fe II, Ge II, Mg I, Mg II, S I, S II, Si II and
Zn II interstellar lines for 63 stars. The column density of Mg II, S II, Si II
and Zn II is well correlated with the distance. However, the column density --
distance relation should be used with care for the estimation of the distance
to OB stars. For stars with large $f(H_2)$ this relation can lead to a large
overestimation of the distance. Hydrogen -- normalised column densities of Mg
II, Si II and Ge II (our largest samples of data) drop with the interstellar
reddening E(B-V) as expected for elements that are incorporated into dust
grains. The Ge II abundance (GeII/H) is lower in dense molecular clouds. The
abundances of all analysed elements are generally lower than their Solar System
values.
