ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 47 



The manganese in this specimen was in very small amount. The 

 furnaces were probably "running on ordinary iron," and not at- 

 tempting the production of spiegel-eisen, as was also the case in 

 analyses IT, III and IV. The phosphorus probably comes from the 

 fluxes, as the Buckhorn ore contains only slight traces of this. 



Chemical Laboratory, U. N. C. 



OCCURRENCE OF CITRIC AND ?^IALIC ACIDS IN 

 PEANUTS, ^ARACHIS HYPOG^EA.) 



E. A. de scinvEixnz. 



Citric, malic and oxalic acids have been shown by Ritthausen to 

 exist in the seeds ol the yellow lupine and other leguminous plants, 

 vicia sativa, vicia faba, phaseolus. An examination of peanuts 

 arachie hypogma shows the presence of malic and citric acids. To 

 detect them the seeds were extracted with water aciditied with HCl, 

 filtered, solution neutralized with NaHO, filtered and precipitated 

 with basic lead acetate. This precipitate decomposed by H.,S and 

 lime water added to the filtrate. This was again filtered and the 

 filtrate boiled. Calcium malate, and citrate being precipitated. After 

 boiling, the solution was allowed to cool and stand for twenty-four 

 hours with frequent stirring and the Calcium malate then filtered oil. 

 The filtrate upon being again boiled, yielded a precipitate of Calcium 

 citrate, which dried at 100° and weighed gave .055 per cent, citric 

 acid. 



As lime water when prepared with cold water does not precipitate 

 malic acid until the solution is boiled, and as Calcium citrate is re-dis- 

 solved by cooling the solution after boiling, the two acids could be 

 separated in this way. 



Both precipitates, Calcium malate and Calcium citrate were dis- 

 solved and confirmatory tests for citric and malic acids made. 



University of N. C. 



