862 METHYL LiKVO INOSITOL IN A POISONOUS PLANT, 



phaseo-maniiite. In the following year, the same chemitst proved 

 the itlentity of his maniiite with Scherer's inosite from animals. 



The occurrence has been recorded of three other substances, 

 which are believed to be isomeric with inactive inositol, since 

 they, although differing widely in crystalline form, melting-point, 

 and solubility, possess the same general characters. These are 

 the scyllite of Stfedeler, from certain elasmobranch fishes, the 

 quercinite of Delachanel, from the oak, and the cocositol of 

 Mueller, from the cocoanut. 



The compounds of inactive inositol which have been found in 

 nature are : — 



Bornesite — the methyl ester, obtained from caoutchouc. 



Dambonite — the dimethyl ester, obtained from caoutchouc. 



Phytin — the phosphate ester, an essential constituent of all 

 plants and animals. 



(h) Dextro-inositol occurs only as the methyl ester, pinite. It 

 was discovered by Berthelot,"^ in 1<S56, in the resins from Oregon 

 pine, and has since been found in senna leaves, and caoutchouc. 



(c) Lcevo-iiiositol is likewise found only as the methyl ester, 

 and the following is a complete record of its occurrence: — 



1. In quebracho bark, Aspidosppnna quebrarho (Apocynacete), 

 discovered by Tanret, of Paris, in 1889,t and named by him 

 quebrachite. 



2. In Hevea brasUiensis (Euphorbiaceae), in the aqueous solu- 

 tions of the latex after coagulation of the rubber,; and in Para 

 rubber. § 



3. In Grevillea robusta (Proteacea3).|| It is associated in the 

 lea\es with the glucoside arbutin. 



4. In Heterodendron o/ece/olimn (Sapindacete), this paper. 



(d) Racemic inositol was discovered in mistletoe by Tanret in 



* Annales de chiniie et de physique, xlvi., 1856, 60. 

 1 Coniptes rendus de I'Aead. des Sciences, cix., 1889, 908. 



+ de Jong, 1906, thro. Wehmer's "Die Pflanzenstoffe."' 

 § Pickles and Whitfield, Proe. Cheni. 8oc. Lend., 1911, 54. 

 Bouiquelot et Fichtenholz, Journ. pharni. et de chirnie, Paris, vi., 



1912, 346. 



