l8o REJPORTS Olf INVESTIGATIONS AND PROJEICTS. 



On the Composition of Toxicodendrol (By S. F. Acree and W. A. Syme : 

 The Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 2, p. 547.) — The investigation was 

 undertaken to see if more light could be thrown on the chemical nature of 

 toxicodendrol and the substances associated with it in the poison-ivy plant 

 (Rhus toxicodendron). The crude material was made by Parke, Davis and 

 Co., of Detroit, Michigan, according to special instructions sent to them, 

 from 67.5 pounds of fresh leaves and flowers of the plant. The following 

 is a summary of the results : 



( 1 ) Leaves and flowers of the poison-ivy plant were extracted with ether 

 and the ether was removed by evaporation. In the residue the following 

 substances were found and studied: gallic acid, fisetin, rhamnose, and a 

 poisonous tar, gum, or wax. 



(2) The lead compound of the poison is soluble in ether; this gives a 

 means of separating the poisonous substance from the non-poisonous matter 

 in one operation. It was found that a portion of the poisonous compound 

 can be precipitated by lead acetate from a solution of the purified tar in 50 

 per cent alcohol. 



(3) The poison is not volatile with the vapor of acetic acid, nor with the 

 vapor of alcohol. 



(4) The poisonous tar or wax was decomposed by acids and yielded 

 gallic acid, fisetin, and rhamnose, showing the probable source of these com- 

 pounds in the plant, and indicating that the poison is a complex substance 

 of a glucoside nature. 



(5) All cases of poisoning developed on Dr. Syme, in testing the poison- 

 ous properties of the different fractions, were easily cured with potassium 

 permanganate. 



(6) The following method is suggested for obtaining the poisonous sub- 

 stance from the plant: Extract the plant with alcohol, filter, and precipitate 

 at once with lead acetate. Wash the precipitate, dry, and extract with 

 ether in Soxhlet extractors (loosely filled). Combine the ether extracts, 

 mix with water, and pass in hydrogen sulphide. Separate the water and the 

 ether solution, and filter the latter. Wash the ether solution thoroughly by 

 shaking with water, and then evaporate at a low temperature. The residue 

 contains the toxicodendrol. 



On Some Semicarhazide Derivatives of Isopropionic Acid, Benzoic Acid, 

 and Bensenesnl phonic Acid. (By S. F. Acree: American Chemical Journal, 

 vol. 37, p. 361.) — In order to pursue some of the physical chemical problems 

 connected with the semicarbazides and urazoles, a number of hydrazine, 

 semicarhazide, and urazole derivatives of propionic acid, benzoic acid, and 

 benzenesulphonic acid were made and studied. 



Studies in Catalysis: the Rearrangement of Acetylhalogenaminobensene 

 Derivatives into Halogen Acetanilide Derivatives. (By S. F. Acree and 

 J. M. Johnson: American Chemical Journal, vol. 37, p. 410.) — It was shown 



