316 Mary Davies Swartz, 



Bauer and ToUens (185), and Miither (200) have already shown that 

 Irish moss contains galactan, levulan, dextran and pentosan groups, 

 these tests were simply verifications of some of their observations. 

 Determination of the reducing power gave the following results: 



Hawaiian Seaweeds. 



Limu Manauea {Gracilaria cor onopij alia), 

 Limu Huna (Hypnea nidifica), 

 Limu Akiaki {Ahnfeldtia concinna), 

 Limu Kohu {Asparagopsis sanfordiana) , 

 Limu Uaualoli {Gymnogongrns). 



These five seaweeds all contained soluble carbohydrates, which were 

 extracted by boiling in water in an open vessel over a free flame for 

 two hours or longer. Limu Manauea, Limu Huna, and Limu Akiaki, 

 which consist largely of soluble gelatinizing hemicelluloses, yielded 

 most of these on boiling two or three hours. The extracts were strained 

 off through gauze, filtered hot through cotton, and dried in thin 

 sheets as described for Irish moss. While the preparations were dark 

 colored, and had a decided "sea" flavor, they were not unpleasant, 

 and were used in feeding experiments without further purification. 

 As already stated, the carbohydrates were not easily precipitated with 

 alcohol unless a neutral salt (as sodium chloride) was present. 



Limu Kohu and Limu Uaualoli contained only a small proportion 

 of soluble hemicelluloses, and this was obtained only after boiling 

 8 to 24 hours. The extracts were also much less gelatinous in charac- 

 ter. The thalli of Limu Kohu are almost like wire when dry, and 

 remain tough and hard even after many hours' boiling. The extracts 

 of these two species were more readily precipitated by alcohol than 

 the others, but the precipitation was greatly facilitated by adding 

 sodium chloride. The carbohydrate of Limu Kohu was precipitated 

 as a white cheese-like cake, floating on the surface, while that of Uaua- 

 loli came down as a mass of coarse white fibers. These precipitates 

 were transferred to absolute alcohol, and after standing several days, 

 were filtered off, washed with ether and dried at 40°-50° C. The 



