I9I2] Anton Richard Rose 23 



and after hydrolysis with acids. It was soluble in water and aclds, 

 and precipitated by the alkali earths and the heavy metals. 



Subsequently Schulze and Winterstein published a paper con- 

 firming the observations of Palladin, and also noting that the phos- 

 phorus was not precipitated by ammonium molybdate. These 

 authors expressed the opinion that the Compound thus discovered by 

 chemical procedure is identical with Pfeffer's " globoid." The fol- 

 lovving year (1897), a more detailed paper was published by the 

 junior author, in which the identity and properties of the substance 

 were more fully revealed, and " inosite-phosphoric acid " was sug- 

 gested as the proper name for the Compound, inasmuch as it yielded 

 inosite and phosphoric acid on hydrolysis. 



The most complete study of this substance has been made by 

 Posternak; his findings are embodied in eight papers and several 

 applications for patents. He discarded the name suggested by 

 Winterstein and proposed a structural formula which does not 

 include the inosite ring. He gave to the substance the name 

 "phytin" (from the Greek <f>vT7]v) and under this trade name it is 

 now placed on the market by a chemical firm in Basel. 



OCCURRENCE OF INOSITE-PHOSPHORIC ACID 



As already noted, phytin was first thought to be a storage product 

 in seeds ; and this early Impression has been confirmed by subsequent 

 investigation, no case having been reported of a seed in which it is 

 completely lacking. The accompanying table (i) lists the plants 

 specially mentioned in the literature in connection with the study of 

 inosite-phosphoric acid. 



The relative data in the table are not in close accord, but no true 

 comparison can as yet be drawn between the species, for most of the 

 data were obtained at periods when adequate and uniform analytical 

 methods were unavailable. The figures quoted in the table give an 

 approximate idea of the quantitative signijficance of this important 

 Compound, in relation to other forms of phosphorus available for 

 seedling growth and the phosphorus requirement of man and beast. 

 Posternak makes the Statement that seeds rieh in fat carry the 

 largest amount of phosphorus, which is in harmony with the micros- 

 copist's observations that the aleuron grains are particularly numer- 



