INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS DURING THE YEAR 1874. liii 



reduced by the copper test, or colored by caustic alkalies, 

 but is abundantly precipitated by barium hydrate. In a 

 subsequent paper he shows that dextrin is changed into 

 dextrose at a high temperature in presence of an inert but 

 moist gas, and that the transformation is increased by the 

 presence of minute quantities of acid. Gautier has succeeded 

 in effecting a remarkable synthesis likely to lead to impor- 

 tant practical results. By withdrawing a molecule of water 

 from two molecules of a glucose or simple sugar, one mole- 

 cule of a compound sugar is produced by the union of the 

 residues. The production of the valuable cane sugar from 

 the cheap and abundant starch sugar, or from this and some 

 other variety of simple sugar, is to be looked for in this 

 direction ; could it be accomplished, the industry of sugar 

 would be revolutionized. The step which Gautier has taken 

 is to solder together two molecules of dextrose by the action 

 of hydrochloric-acid gas upon it dissolved in alcohol, and 

 thus to produce a compound isomeric, but not identical with 

 saccharose. It is not a sugar, is deliquescent, not precipita- 

 ble by ammoniacal lead acetate, reduces difficultly the cop- 

 per test, and is dextrogyrate. 



Schorlemmer and Dale have shown that suberone, pro- 

 duced by the dry distillation of suberic acid, is the acet- 

 one of this acid, and yields an acid isomeric with pimelic 

 acid, on oxidation, called a-pimelic acid. Kekule has pub- 

 lished a paper on the constitution of camphor, giving it 

 a rational formula analogous to an acetone, and taking well 

 into account the numerous reactions of which it is capa- 

 ble. This chemist, undoubtedly the most eminent in Eu- 

 rope, having been called to Munich as the successor of Lie- 

 big, is remarkable for the power of prediction which he pos- 

 sesses, and which he has introduced into the science the 

 oxycymene, described in the paper in question, having been 

 foreseen by theory before it was realized as fact. Neison 

 has studied the products of decomposition of castor-oil, and 

 has shown that sodium ricinoleate yields by dry distillation 

 methyl-hexyl-ketone, unless an excess of alkali is present, in 

 which case heptyl aldehyde is produced. Hell and Lauber 

 have effected an easy synthesis of crotonic acid by acting 

 upon mono-bromobutyric acid with alcoholic potash. Steiner 

 has succeeded in forming succinic acid artificially by the ac- 



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