1903.] 



The Physiological Action of Betaine. 



349 



although the muscarine synthetically prepared by the oxidation of 

 choline has a slightly different constitution, namely,* 



N(CH 3 ) 3 



CH(OH) 



Synthetic muscarine. 



The presence of betaine in raw beet-sugar, in which small quantities 

 might reasonably be suspected, has, so far as I have been able to 

 ascertain, not yet been demonstrated, and the object of this investi- 

 gation has been to determine whether it is present, and if so, in what 

 quantity. 



On account of the presence of perhaps only a very small amount 

 of betaine in raw beet-sugar (the juice of the ripe beet containing 

 only T V per cent,, that of the unripe \ per cent.), two preliminary 

 experiments were made to see if it were possible to extract y 1 ^ per 

 cent, of it from sugar to which it had been added ; in the first of 

 these, the sugar was removed as insoluble lead saccharate according 

 to the method patented by Wohl, 4 and in the other it was not 

 removed. In both cases phosphotungstic acid, as used and recom- 

 mended by Scheibler, was used to precipitate the betaine. 



1. 100 grammes of sugar, to which O'l gramme of betaine hydrochloride 

 was added, were dissolved in 250 cc. of water, and to this solution, warmed 

 on the water-bath, 150 grammes of lead oxide were gradually added, the 

 mixture being meanwhile well stirred. The insoluble lead saccharate 

 so formed was then filtered off, and well washed, arid the filtrate, 

 treated with sulphuretted hydrogen to remove traces of lead which 

 had gone into solution, was evaporated down to a small volume ; 

 1 gin. of phosphotungstic acid in 10 cc. of water, acidified with 

 sulphuric acid, was then added to it, and on standing, white crystals 

 were gradually precipitated ; after a month these were filtered off, 

 washed with water, and when dried at 100 C. weighed 0'8 gramme. 

 On decomposition O'l gramme of betaine hydrochloride , melting at 

 '237 C., was obtained. The original substance melted at 237 

 238 C. 



Betaine can thus be quantitatively recovered from sugar to which it 

 has been added. 



2. The same quantity of sugar and of betaine hydrochloride were 

 dissolved in 100 cc. of water, and the same quantity of phosphotungstic 



* The term neurine now designates the compound with the following formula : 



/OH 

 N (CH 3 ) 3 b ,- 



which is seen to contain 1 molecule of water less than choline. 



