oxidised groups in question.

UEBER DIE CONSTITUTION DER PECTINSTOFFE.

C. F. CROSS (Berl. Ber., 1895, 2609).

~CONSTITUTION OF PECTINS.~

It is pointed out that the composition of the pectin of white currants,
as given in the preceding paper, is that of the typical lignocellulose,
the jute fibre. The product was isolated and further investigated by the
author. It gave 9.8 p.ct. furfural on boiling with HCl (1.06 s.g.),
reacted freely with chlorine, giving quinone chlorides, and with ferric
ferricyanide to form Prussian blue. This 'pectin' is therefore a form
of soluble lignocellulose. The 'pectic' group consequently must be
extended to include hydrated and soluble forms of the mixed complex of
condensed and unsaturated groups with normal carbohydrates, such as
constitute the fibrous lignocelluloses.

UEBER DAS PFLANZLICHE AMYLOID.

E. WINTERSTEIN (Ztschr. Physiol. Chem., 1892, 353).

~ON VEGETABLE AMYLOID.~

(p. 224) A group of constituents of many seeds, distinguished by giving
slimy or ropy 'solutions' under the action of boiling water are
designated 'amyloid.' They are reserve materials, and in this, as in the
physical properties of their 'solutions,' they are very similar to
starch. They are, however, not affected by diastase; and generally are
more resistant to hydrolysis. Typical amyloids have been isolated by the
author from seeds of _Tropoeolum majus, Poeonia officinalis_, and
_Impatiens Balsamina_. The raw material was carefully purified by
exhaustive treatment with ether and alcohol, &c.; the amyloid then
extracted by boiling with water, and isolated by precipitation with
alcohol. Elementary analysis gave the numbers C 43.2, H 6.1. On boiling
with 12 p.ct. HCl it gave 15.3 p.ct. furfural; oxidised with nitric acid
it yielded 10.4 p.ct. mucic acid. Specimens from the two first-named raw
materials gave almost identical numbers.

_Hydrolysis._--On boiling with dilute acids these products are gradually
broken down, dissolving without residue. In this respect they are
differentiated from the mucilages, which give a residue of cellulose
(insoluble). From the solution the author isolated crystalline
galactose, but failed to isolate a pentose. Dextrose was also not
identified directly.

The tissue residues left after extracting the amyloid constituent, as
above described, were subjected to acid hydrolysis. A complex of
products was obtained, from which galactose was isolated. A
furfural-yielding carb