312 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOKD. 



the substance could be hydrolyzed into a hesose and into a basic substance 

 wliich was named by liim di-vicine. The exact nature of the base and the con- 

 figuration of the sugar were not recognized by the discoverer of the substance. 

 Schulze and Trier,*^ on the basis of theoretical considerations, were the first to 

 give expression to the assumption that vicine had the structure of a pyrimidin 

 glucosid." 



This article gives the results of investigations dealing with some of the prin- 

 cipal points in the structure of the nucleo side of the substances. " The results 

 point to the conclusion that vicine is composed of 4-6-dioxy-2-5-diamino-pyrimidin 

 combined in glycosidic union with (^-glucose." 



On a starch-forming enzym from malt: Its action on hemicelluloses and 

 its commercial application to brewing, C. B. Davis {Jour. Indus, and Engin. 

 Chem., 7 {1915), No. 2, pp. 115-118, figs. 8). — ^A new enzym capable of hydro- 

 lyzing the hemicelluloses of yeast and cereals was isolated from barley malt. 



'* Hemicellutase is precipitated by metals, metallic salts, alcohol, and tannin. 

 Its enzymatic action is destroyed at an elevated temperature above its optimum, 

 90° C, at which its action is irrevocably changed. Its action is catalytic and 

 hydrolytic on hemicelluloses, otherwise known as granulose, starch cellulose, 

 amylocellulose, amylopectin, pentosans, and hexosans, transforming them per- 

 manently into gelatinized starch between the temperatures of 15° and 90° C, 

 and transforming the jelly of hemicelluloses which react yellow to iodin to 

 gelatinous insoluble starch, giving an intense blue reaction with iodin. . . , 

 Hemicellutase is without action on nitrogenous compounds, such as proteids, 

 albumin, peptone, etc." 



The application of this finding to practical brewing conditions was pointed 

 out 



About the action of micro-org'anisms on betain, F. Ehrlich and F. Lange 

 {Ztschr. Ver. Dcut. Zuckerindus., No. 697, II {1914), pp. 158-171; abs. in Ztschr.' 

 Angela. Chem., 27 {1914), No. 21, Referatcnteil, p. 193). — Betain is one of the 

 nonsugar substances which is not removed during the separation and saturation 

 of beet juices, and is found in the strontium molasses slops in amounts up to 

 15 per cent. 



It was found that betain is not affected by the ordinary distillery, beer, and 

 wine yeasts, although it serves as a source of nitrogen for other micro-organ- 

 isms. In the presence of sugar or ethyl alcohol it is fermented by surface film- 

 forming mycoderma and by mold fungi. When betain is assimilated by micro- 

 organisms acid is usually formed. Willia anomala, when grown in a betain 

 solution, leads to the formation of glycollic acid. In a symbiotic culture of yeast 

 and mold fungi, trimethylamin is produced, and from the latter, ammonia. 

 Neither substance, however, can be detected because they are quickly synthe- 

 sized to proteins. It is only possible with a few molds, as, for example, Peni- 

 cillium glaucuni and other related varieties, to detect ammonia in appreciable 

 amounts. 



A simplification of the determination of total nitrogen by colorimetry, 

 A. GuLicK {Jour. Biol. Chem., 18 {1914), No. 3, pp. 541-547, fig. l).—lt has been 

 found possible to improve and abbreviate the Folin-Farmer colorimetric nitro- 

 gen method by avoiding the aspiration of the products of oxidation. The method 

 is said to be rapid to conduct, reliable, and simple. 



The estimation of ammonia by the boric acid method, L. W. Winkler 

 {Ztschr. Angew.Chem., 27 {1914), No. 94, Aufsatzteil, pp. 630-632, fig. 1).— 

 In order to study the conditions under which the method operates, tests were 



" Hoppe-Scyler's Ztsclir. Physiol. Chem., 70 (1910-11), No. 2-3, pp. 143-151. 



