15 

 D. The Presence of Definite Organic Compounds in the Soil. 



The following types of pure organic compounds have been 

 isolated from the soil. In view of Gortner's statement above it is 

 of interest to note that all of these compounds are colorless, and 

 that nearly all of them were isolated from an alkaline humus ex- 

 tract. 



1. Paraffin hydrocarbons. 



Hcntriacontane, C 3 iH 4 . Schreiner and Shorey (1910 a, 1911 a). 



2. Alcohols 



Argosterol*, CseHUO. Schreiner and Shorey (1909, 1909 a) 

 Phytostcrol, C 26 H 44 O, H 2 O. Schreiner and Shorey (1910 a, 1911 b) 



3. Esters 



"Glycerides of fatty acids." Schreiner and Shorey (1910 a) 

 "Resin esters." Schreiner and Shorey (1910 a) 



4. Acids 



Oxalic acid, COOH-COOH. Shorey (1913) 

 Succinic acid, COOH-CH.-CHr-COOH. Shorey (1913) 

 Saccharic acid, COOH-(CHOH) 4 -COOH. Shorey (1913) 

 Acrylic acid, CH 2 =CH-COOH. Shorey (1913) 

 a-Crotonic acid, CH :1 -CH = CH-COOH. Walters and Wise (1916). 

 a (l:ll)-Monohydroxystearic acid, CH,(CH,) ti CHOH (CH 2 )COOH. 



Schreiner and Shorey (1910 a, 1910 b) 

 Dihydroxystearic acid, CH 3 (CH 2 ) 7 CHOH-CHOH(CH 2 ) T COOH. 



Schreiner and Shorey (1908 a, 1909 a) 

 Benzoic acid, C 6 H 5 COOH. Shorey (1914) 

 Metaoxytoluic acid, OH-C 6 H 3 -CH 3 -COOH. Shorey .(1914) 

 Agroceric acid, C 2 iH 42 O 3 . Schreiner and Shorey (1909 a) 

 Paraffinic acid, C 24 H 48 O 2 . Schreiner and Shorey (1910 a) 

 Lignoccric acid, C:uH 4 *O 2 . Schreiner and Shorey (1910 a) 

 "Resin acids" (?). Schreiner and Shorey (1910 a) 



5. Aldehydes 



Salicylic aldehyde, C 6 H 4 -OH-CHO. Shorey (1913) 



Vanillin, OH-C 6 H 3 (OCH 3 )-CHO. m-methoxy-o-hydroxy benzal- 



dehyde. Shorey (1914) 

 Trithiobenzaldehyde, (C 6 H 5 CSH) 3 . Shorey (1913) 



6. Carbohydrates 



Mannitol, CH,OH-(CHOH) 4 -CH 2 OH. Shorey (1913) 

 Rhamnose, CH 3 -(CHOH) 4 -CHO, H 2 O. Shorey (1913) 

 Pentosan**, C 5 H 8 O 4 . Schreiner and Shorey (1910 a), Shorey and 

 Lathrop (1910) 



7. Pyrimidine derivatives 



Cytosine, C 4 H 5 N 3 O. 2-oxy, 6-amino pyrimidine. Schreiner and 

 Shorey (1910 a, 1910 c) 



8. Purine bases 



Xanthine, CsH 4 N 4 O 2 . 2, 6-dioxy purine. Schreiner and Shorey 



(1910 a, 1910 c) 

 Hypoxanthine, C 5 H 4 N 4 O. 6-oxy purine. Schreiner and Shorey 



(1910 a, 1910 c) 



Adenine, C 5 H 5 N 5 . 6-amino purine. Shorey (1913) 

 Guanine***, CsHtNtO. 2-amino, 6-oxypurine. Lathrop (1912). 



Schreiner and Lathrop (1912). 

 Tetracarbonimid****, C 4 H 4 N 4 O 4 . Shorey and Walters (1914) 



9. Pyridine derivatives 



a-Picoline. -y-carboxylic acid, CrHrNOa. Shorey (1906), Schreiner 

 and Shorey (1908 b) 



*The composition of the compound was determined by a single analysis, 

 made with 0.1500 gram of the substance. It seems highly improbable that 

 the composition could be obtained accurately from this amount of material. 



**Pentose sugars have been separated as hydrolysis products of substances 

 isolated from the soil (Schreiner and Shorey 1910 a). 



**This compound was isolated from a steam heated soil. 



**** This has been shown to be cyanuric acid (Wise and Walters 1917). 



