414 RECORD OF SCIENCE FOR 1886. 



chloride; but he succeeded in transforming cadaverlne into piperidine 

 by a known process and thus fully established the identity of the two 

 bodies. (Ber. d. chem. Ges., xix, 2585.) 



On the Constitution of Levulose and Dextrose^ by Heinrich Kiliani. — 

 According to the author, levulose is a ketone alcohol, and has the con- 

 stitution 



CH2OH 



I 

 CO 



I 

 CHOH 



I 

 CHOH 



I 

 CHOH 



I 

 CH2OH 



This result was arrived at by studying the behavior of levulose with 

 hydrocyanic acid. 



The question whether dextrose is an aldehyde or an anhydride is not 

 entirely settled, but the probable constitution is 



/CH2 



/\ 



O (CH0H)4 



\i 



^CHOH 

 (Ber. d. chein. Ges., xix, 767 and 1128.) 



Ghlorophyll and the Reduction of Carbonic Acid by Plants, by C. Timi- 

 riazeff. — On subjecting an alcoholic solution of chlorophyll to nascent 

 hydrogen (by means of zinc and acetic acid) the chlorophyll is reduced, 

 and forms in dilute solutions a straw-yellow substance and in concen- 

 trated solutions a substance of brown-red color. This substance has a 

 well defined spectrum, in which the band in the red portion character- 

 istic of chlorophyll is wanting. The most important i)roperty of this 

 reduced chlorophyll is its rapid oxidation on exposure to air, with re- 

 ])roduction of green chlorophyll. The author terms this new substance 

 protochlorophylline, or, more briefly, protophylline. 



Solutions of protophylline can be preserved only in glass tubes her- 

 metically sealed. If a solution of protophylline be sealed up in a tube 

 together with carbonic acid and preserved in total darkness it retains 

 indefinitely its color and characteristic spectrum, but on exposure to 

 sunlight the solution turns green. The author remarks that in the 

 absence of quantitative details he can not claim that this proves the 

 reduction of carbonic acid by protochlorophylline in the presence of 



