CHOLINE 



49 



The aldehyde, which goes by the name of muscarine, occurs in 

 Agaricus muscarius ; it is a powerful poison (see p. 275). 



By the bacterial decomposition of choline another very 

 poisonous base, neurine, may be obtained ; this substance 

 differs from choline by the elements of water. 



HON(CH 3 ) 3 CH a CH a OH 

 Choline 



HON(CH 3 ) 3 CH = CH 2 

 Neurine 



The choline complex of lecithin on further decomposition 

 can give rise to nitrogen bases, such as dimethylamine HN(CH 3 ) 2 

 and trimethylamine N(CH 3 ) 3 ; these substances, which have a 

 fishy smell, also occur in herring brine and are probably there 

 produced from a similar source. They have similarly been 

 obtained from the leaves of Chenopodium vulvaria, from the 

 blossoms of Crataegus Oxyacantha, from species of Pyrus, and 

 from the seeds of Fagus (see p. 276). 



Lecithins form compounds with sugar, and it is stated that 

 all lecithins of a vegetable origin are in combination with carbo- 

 hydrates ; galactose, glucose and pectose having been identified. 

 The amount of this combined sugar varies pretty considerably ; 

 it may be as high as 16 per cent according to Winterstein 

 and Hiestand.* 



Formation of Lecithin. 



The following table, due to Green and Jackson,f shows the 

 relation between the lecithin, fatty acid, and oil of the endo- 

 sperm of Ricinus, expressed in per cent of weight of the seeds 

 at different stages in their germination : 



From this it appears that lecithin is formed during germination ; 

 although there is, during the early stages of germination, a 



* Winterstein and Hiestand : loc. cit. 

 t Green and Jackson : loc. cit. 

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