vin, a, 2 Edding field: Gogo 137 



squeezing out the solution. The solution is of a brown to reddish 

 color, which gradually turns upon standing to a deep reddish 

 brown. It was found that, if exposed to the air, large numbers 

 of bacilli belonging to the Bacillus proteus 3 group were devel- 

 oped in the solution, and probably acted as reducing agents, 

 producing different chemical compounds. It was also found that 

 a mold (Penicillium sp.) grew prolifically on the surface of 

 the solution. This fungus Bacon 4 states "decomposed the solu- 

 tion, causing the separation of sapogenin, carbon dioxide at the 

 same time being given off." However, sterilized solutions of 

 gogo undergo certain changes if allowed to stand for a sufficient 

 length of time, giving results similar to those obtained by solu- 

 tions in which bacilli have been developed. 



The first experiment was made with freshly made gogo juice. 

 One cubic centimeter of gold chloride solution, obtained by dis- 

 solving 1 gram of crystallized gold chloride in 100 cubic centi- 

 meters of distilled water, was placed in a test tube; 1 cubic 

 centimeter of concentrated oxalic acid and a slight excess of gogo 

 were added. The solution was thoroughly shaken and heated 

 over a Bunsen burner. A deep purple solution was formed which 

 remained practically unchanged upon standing. Freshly made 

 gogo without the oxalic acid merely caused the formation of a 

 brown precipitate. Purple solutions were also obtained by first 

 boiling the gogo or the gold chloride solution with calcium car- 

 bonate or sodium carbonate, using the same proportions of solu- 

 tion. Several different colors were produced during these tests 

 which were probably caused by various other organic compounds 

 in the gogo. One was a black suspension of fine particles, which 

 settled out completely at the end of ten days. Another was a 

 slate-colored suspension which settled after five days. The char- 

 acteristics of these precipitates were not determined. After the 

 gogo had been allowed to stand for several days either in a sterile 

 condition, or exposed to the air and the action of the bacilli 

 or fungi, beautiful red solutions were obtained by adding from 

 2 to 6 cubic centimeters of gogo to 1 cubic centimeter of gold 

 chloride solution and boiling. This solution remained prac- 

 tically unaltered upon standing, although diminution of the color 

 was noted in the top of the test tube after a few weeks. The 

 exact character of these reactions is too complex for so brief an 

 investigation. 



* Determined by Liborio Gomez, Bureau of Science. 



* Loc. cit. 



