rx 



THE VEGETABLE ALBUMINS 



373 



nuts, 1 sunflowers, 2 lentils, 3 wheat, 4 cotton, 5 and malt. 6 As in the 

 case of the serum-albumins, so here it is very difficult to say whether 

 we are always dealing with one and the same substance, as the dis- 

 tinguishing features are very ill defined. The edestin from hemp-seed 

 has been most fully investigated. Its analysis gives these figures : 



The specific rotation, according to Chittenden and Mendel, 8 is 

 - 43*48. Its dissociation-products are given in the table on p. 71, No. 

 1 2. All the amino-acids are present. Edestin, next to globulin and some 

 of the protamins, is the best analysed substance. According to Erb 13 

 and Osborne u all the colour-tests, except that of Molisch, give positive 

 results. The precipitation-tests give the same results as in the case 

 of the globulins, and the numbers obtained with the salting-out method 

 are also the same as for globulin, according to Osborne. 13 The hydro- 

 chlorides of edestin have been investigated by Erb 16 and Osborne, 17 

 and the lime and magnesium salts by Schmiedeberg, 18 Drechsel, 19 and 

 Griibler. 20 As already mentioned, the composition and the reactions of 

 edestins prepared from different seeds do not differ from one another 



1 T. B. Osborne and J. F. Harris, Journ. Amer. Chem. Soc. 25. 848 (1903). 



2 T. B. Osborne and G. F. Campbell, ibid. 19. 487 (1897). 



3 T. B. Osborne, ibid. 20. 362 (1892). 



4 T. B. Osborne and C. G. Vorhees, Amer. Chem. Journ. 15. No. 6 (1894) ; T. B. 

 Osborne and C. G. Vorhees, Conn. Agric. Exper. Station, 1893, p. 175. 



5 Osborne and Vorhees, ibid. 1893, p. 211. 



6 T. B. Osborne and G. F. Campbell, ibid. 1895, p. 239. 



7 H. Ritthausen, Journ. f. prakt. Chem. (2) 23. 412 (1881) ; (2) 25. 140 (1882). 



8 R. H. Chittenden and L. B. Mendel, Journ. of Physiol. 17. 48 (1891). 



9 T. B. Osborne, Amer. Chem. Journ. 14. No. 8(1893). 



30 T. B. Osborne, Conn. Agric. Exper. Station, 1901, p. 443. 



11 E. Abderhalden, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem. 37. 499 (1903). 



12 W. Hausmann, ibid. 29. 136 (1900). 



13 W. Erb, Zeitschr. f. Biol. 41. 309 (1901). 



14 T. B. Osborne and J. F. Harris, Journ. Amer. Chem. Soc. 25. 474 (1903). 



15 T. B. Osborne and J. F. Harris, ibid. 25. 837 (1903). 



16 W. Erb. Zeitschr. f. Biol. 41. 309 (1901). 



17 T. B. Osborne, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem. 33. 225 and 240 (1901). 



18 0. Schmiedeberg, ibid. 1. 205 (1887). 



19 E. Drechsel, Journ. f. prakt. Chem. (2) 19. 331 (1879). 



20 G. Griibler, ibid. 131. 97 (1881). 



