224 THE FITNESS OF THE ENVIRONMENT 



OH 

 I 

 H-C— 



H-C-OH 

 I 



HO-C-H 

 I 

 H-C 



O 



I 

 H-C-OH 



I 

 CH 2 OH 



CHO 

 I 

 H-C-OH 

 I 

 HO-C-H 

 I 

 H-C-OH 



H-C-OH 

 I 

 CH2OH 



H 



I 



HO-C 



I 

 H-C-OH 



HO-C-H 



H-C 



O 



H-C-OH 

 CH2OH 



When to such a solution of glucose a small 

 quantity of alkali is added, certain remarkable 

 further changes occur, as was first demon- 

 strated by Lobry de Bruyn. 1 These pro- 

 cesses result in the formation of mannose and 

 levulose, probably according to the accom- 

 panying diagram. 



Moreover, like glucose, levulose and man- 

 nose both exist in solution in three different 

 forms, so that the resulting solution contains 

 at least ten chemical individuals. But it is 

 almost certain that other changes simultane- 

 ously occur and that the solution is actually 

 still more complex, even from the outset. 



Upon a continued increase of alkalinity, 

 or even slowly under the original conditions, 

 a multitude of other changes set in. These 



1 See the numerous papers by Lobry de Bruyn and Al- 

 berda van Eckenstein in Recueil des Travaux Chimiques 

 des Pays Bas, XIV-XIX. 



