OVOMUCOID. 635 



Conalbumin can be removed from the filtrate, after the complete 

 crystallization of the ovalbumin, by removing the sulphate by means of 

 dialysis and coagulating by heat. 



GAUTIER x found a fibrinogen-like substance in the white of egg, which was 

 changed into a fibrin-like body by the action of a ferment. 



Ovomucoid. This substance, first observed by NEUMEISTER and 

 considered by him as a pseudopeptone, and then later studied by SALKOW- 

 SKI, is, according to C. TH. MORNER^ a mucoid with 12.65 per cent 

 nitrogen and 2.20 per cent sulphur. Ovomucoid exists in hens' eggs 

 to the extent of about 12 per cent of the total solids. 



A solution of ovomucoid is not precipitated by mineral acids nor by 

 organic acids, with the exception of phosphotungstic acid and tannic 

 acid. It is not precipitated by metallic salts, but basic lead acetate and 

 ammonia render it insoluble. Ovomucoid is thrown down by alcohol, 

 but sodium chloride, sodium sulphate, and magnesium sulphate give 

 no precipitates either at the ordinary temperature or when the salts are 

 added to saturation at 30 C. Its solutions are not precipitated by an 

 equal volume of a saturated solution of ammonium sulphate, but are 

 precipitated on adding more salt thereto. The substance is not pre- 

 cipitated on boiling, but the part which has become insoluble in cold 

 water and which has been dried, is dissolved by boiling water. ZANETTI 

 has prepared glucosamine on splitting ovomucoid with concentrated 

 hydrochloric acid, and SEEMANN found that the quantity of glucosamine 

 in ovomucoid was 34.9 per cent. 3 



Ovomucoid may be prepared by removing all the proteins by boil- 

 ing with the addition of acetic acid, and then concentrating the filtrate 

 and precipitating with alcohol. The substance is purified by repeated 

 solution in water and precipitation with alcohol. 



PANORMOW believes that the eggs of other birds, such as the pigeon and duck, 

 contain a special protein in the egg-white, which is not identical with that of the 

 hen's egg. WORMS 4 has prepared a crystalline albumin from the white of the 

 turkey eggs which contained 15.37 per cent N, 1.6 per cent S and had a specific 

 rotation of (<*)D = -34.9. 



The mineral bodies of the white of egg have been analyzed by 

 POLECK and WEBER. S They found in 1000 parts of the ash: 276.6- 



1 Compt. Rend., 135. 



2 R. Neumeister, Zeitschr. f. Biologic, 27; Salkowski. Centralbl. f. d. med. Wis- 

 sensch., 1893, 513 and 706; C. Morner, Zeitsch. f. physiol. Chem., 18 and 80. See 

 also Langstein, Hofmeister's Beitrage, 3 (literature). 



3 Zanetti, Chem. Centralbl., 1898, 1; Seemann, cited from Langstein, Ergebnisse 

 der Physiol., 1, Abt. 1, 86. 



4 Panormow, see Bioch. Centralbl., 5; Worms, cited from Chem. Centralbl., 1906, 

 2, 1508. 



5 Cited from Hoppe-Seyler, Physiol. Chem., 778. 



