RECENT WORK IN AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE. 



CHEMISTRY. 



The principal amid of sugar cane, E. S. Shorey (Jour. Amer. 

 Chem. Soc, 19 ( 1897), No. 11, pp. 881-889).— As a result of investigation 

 the author finds that the "principal amid compound present in sugar 

 cane is not optically active, and is not asparagin [as stated by Max- 

 well 'J, but glycocoll or glycocin, an amid not heretofore known to occur 

 in plaiits. 1 ' The method of preparing the amid and the physical and 

 chemical characteristics of the crystals are described, together witli the 

 ways in which it resembles and is distinguished from asparagin. 



Fifteen preparations of glycocoll were made from sugar cane at dif- 

 ferent stages of growth, including the young shoots of the cane a few 

 weeks old, the green tops of cane 1 year old, and mature cane growing 

 at elevations of from 400 to 1,200 ft. ^STo attempts were made to esti- 

 mate the quantity, but the author noticed that larger amounts were 

 obtained from young than from mature cane. 



"It is fair to conclude that glycocoll is not only the principal amid of sugar cane, 

 but is also a normal constituent of this plant at all periods of its growth. . . . Its 

 occurrence has not been noted in a plant before, and ir has been considered a hotly 

 belonging wholly to animal chemistry. . . . 



"The identification of glycocoll in sugar cane and the fact that it has been mis- 

 taken for asparagin suggests the probability of its occurrence in other plauts, 

 especially the Gramineae, which forms the major part of the food of herbivorous ani- 

 mals; and it is quite likely that the source of the hippuric acid in the urine of such 

 animals will be found in such occurrence." 



The author considers the matter from the sugar manufacturer's point 

 of view. He has obtained glycocoll in comparatively large quantities 

 from several samples of refuse molasses. He believes that "a body 

 such as glycocoll would exert little effect on the crystallization of sugar 

 one way or the other, especially as it exists in cane in such small 

 amounts, but it is likely that the proteid directly connected with glyco- 

 coll will be found to be highly molassigeuic." 



Toxalbumoses -which coagulate blood, M. Elfstrand (TJeber 

 giftige Eiweisse welche Bluikbrperchen verlcleben. Upsala: Almqvist tt; 

 Wilcsells Boltryclxeri-aJctiebolag, 1S!>7, pp. 192). — This is an extended 

 study of the toxalbumoses in croton seed. The poisonous albumen was 



1 Louisiana Stas. Bui. 38, 2. ser. (E. S. R., 7, p. 645). 

 720 



