830 THE SLIME OF DEMATIUM PULLULAyS. 



tion of the fluid, the osazones were prepared. The crude usazone, 

 after treatment with ether, yielded a yellow crystalline consti- 

 tuent soluble in warm water, with a melting point of 160"^ 

 (arabinosazone) and another which melted at 194" (galactosazone^. 

 The quantity of the former that was obtained was just enough to 

 determine the melting point. The latter had the characters of 

 galactosazone. When these results are considered in conjunction 

 with the solubility of the carbohydrate in acid, the insolubility 

 in dilute alkali and the resistance of the hydrolytic action of 

 boiling 5 % sulphuric, it is apparent that the carbohydrate is a 

 pararabin. 



The pararabin is a "kind which when once in the insoluble con- 

 dition is not easily made soluble. As obtained by growing the 

 mould upon solid media, the slime did not dissolve to any extent 

 upon digesting a suspension of the culture in the autoclave, and 

 on this account dilute acid w^as used as a solvent. In contrast 

 with this behaviour, the pararabin formed by Bact. pararabimwi 

 was easily dissolved by the autoclave treatment. Still some of 

 the Dematium slime is dissolved, and it is probably simply a 

 question of time or of temperature in order that the carbohydrate 

 may be completely altered to the soluble modification. Upon 

 the evaporation of most of the water, a solution of the slime 

 became gelatinous. Drops of this gelatinous solution when tested 

 with drops of reagents gave white curdy precipitates with basic 

 and ammoniacal lead acetate; faint white precipitates with baryta 

 water, silver nitrate and phosphotungstic acid; pale blue precipi- 

 tates with Schweitzer's and Fehling's solutions; and no reaction 

 with neutral lead acetate, ferric chloride, copper sulphate, iodine 

 or the alkalies. 



Summary. — A race of Demafiicm jmlhilans \ya.s separated from 

 specimens of the peach and almond affected with gum-flux. 

 When grown upon or in media containing saccharose, it produced 

 a pararabin. Neither arabin nor metarabin was obtained, and 

 therefore Dematium pulluJans has no influence in the production 

 of the gum-flux of these fruits. 



