CHEMISTRY. 281 



"(3) In regard to alcoholic fermentation, however, the furfuroids are obtained in 

 a more sensitive condition. Thus, in the case of barley straw treated with sulphuric 

 acid, the solution, after dilution and filtration from therepretipitatiMl ligno-cellulose 

 complex, was examined for the above constants, then neutralized and fermented, 

 and the constants of the unfermented residue determined. The following are the 

 results: Percentage reduction referred to dextrose : Before fermentation, 43.5; after 

 fermentation, 2.3. Percentage of furfurol: Before fermentation, 32.3; after fermen- 

 tation, 8.1. 



'•The soluble furfuroids were therefore to a A'ery great extent fermented. It 

 appears, also, from the researches of W. E. Stone,' that of the total furfuroids iu a 

 typical selection of fodder plants, a large proportion, 60 to 80 per cent, are digested 

 on passing through the alimentary tract of Herbivora. 



"On the other hand, it is positively established that the pentoses proper are not 

 susceptible of alcoholic fermentation, neither are they assimilated in the process of 

 animal digestion. 



"The results, therefore, further indicate that in the cereal stems the furfuroid 

 constituents are not pentosans, but products representing stages intermediate 

 between the hexoses and pentoses." — H. J. Patterson. 



The pentosans contained in plants, especially feeding stuffs, 

 their determination and properties, 13. Tollens {Jour. Landic.,44 

 {18'JG), pp. 171-194; abs. in Cliem. Gentbl, 1896, II, No. 5, p. 304).— The 

 author emphasizes the necessity of extending the old Weende method 

 for the analysis of feeding stuffs, with respect to crude fiber and non- 

 nitrogenous extract. The crude fiber consists mainly of cellulose, lig- 

 nin, and wood gum or pentosan. The latter has been frequently found 

 by the author iu the crude fiber obtained by the Weende method. It 

 gives a red coloration when moistened with a solution of phloroglucin 

 in moderately concentrated hydrochloric acid. The work of the author 

 and his students in studying the nature and determination of the pen- 

 tosans is briefly reviewed. The formation of the pentosans can not be 

 explained with any exactness, but it is quite probable that they are 

 formed from cellulose, starch, or other related bodies by oxidation. The 

 greater portion of the pentosans present iu the food do not appear in 

 the excrement, and only small portions in the urine, and they are there- 

 fore evidently digested. A certain percentage of the pentosans or pen- 

 toses (arabinose, xylose) eaten by man appear shortly after in the urine. 



More exact knowledge as to the real function of the pentosans iu 

 nutrition is much to be desired. — w. H. krug. 



On the relation between the citrate solubility and soil solu- 

 bility of phosphoric acid, with special reference to Thomas 

 slag, O. FOERSTER {Cliem. ZU/., ^>(> {1S9(;), Xos. H), pp. 39 1-39 G ; 41, p. 

 413; 43, p. 422). — The principles underlying the use of the citrate 

 method are discussed at length and the literature of the subject is 

 reviewed. The varying solvent acticm on phosphates of acids of the 

 same chemical strength is brought out. It is suggested that the varia- 

 tion in the solubility of the diflerent phosphates is due largely to their 

 state of hydration. The larger the amount of water in chemical com- 

 bination with the phosphoric acid the more soluble the phosphate. 



1 Agl. Sci., 7 (1893), No. 1, p. 6. 



