466 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



and the latter even in the cold, transform it, in the first instance, into 

 pectosates and pectates, and finally, if their action be continued, into 

 the remaining bodies of the series. The liquor gave, Trith an excess 

 of hydrochloric acid, a broTvn gelatinous precipitate, -^hich was 

 •washed on the filter with hot water for some time. During the 

 ■washing the precipitate swelled a good deal, and much passed through 

 the filter, so that gelatinous flakes deposited in the filtrate. In spite 

 of washing, the precipitate still contained alkali (in 0*2 1925 grm. 

 of dried precipitate 0"002o grm. ashes). It dissolved in liquor ammo- 

 nia with brown colour ; the solution yielded a gelatinous precipitate 

 with barium chloride. After diying, it resembled in appearance a 

 woody brown mass, soluble in ammonium oxalate, but insoluble in 

 absolute alcohol and ether. ^ On boiling with water it swelled up, 

 and was gradually dissolved as presumably metapectic acid ; which was 

 shown by its reducing Fehling's solution, by turning brown with alka- 

 lies, and by yielding a gelatinous precipitate with silver nitrate. The 

 solution gave an acid reaction with litmus. All the reactions here 

 given agree with Fremy's statements about metapectic acid, 



Extraction ivitli Lime and Prej)aration of Calcium Ifeta-pectate. 



A large quantity of raw flax was boiled for twelve hours with 

 excess of milk of lime. The solution was filtered and freed from 

 free calcium hydrate by a cuiTent of carbonic dioxide at a boiling heat. 

 The filtered brown solution of calcium metapectate was concentrated 

 and decolourised by animal charcoal. By evaporation in a platinum 

 dish, a substance was obtained, at first gummy, then hardening, and 

 still rather yellowish and rather hygroscopic. Two samples were 

 powdered and dried for twelve hours at 100-110° C. 



r0632 grms. yielded on ignition -2477 grms. CaO = 23"22 per cent. 

 ■504 „ „ „ -119 ,, CaO = 23-61 „ 



The solution of calcium metapectate gave no precipitate with hy- 

 drochloric acid, nor with barium chloride and neutral lead acetate, but 

 only with basic lead acetate. The precipitate was soluble in an 

 excess of the precipitant. In order to ascertain whether Kolb was 

 correct in his idea of the non-existence of a resinous saponification, 

 many experiments were undertaken; and though they, like the rest of 

 my work, are far from being completed, a few of them are here enume- 

 rated, the results of which, so far as they have gone, tend to confirm 

 Kolb's conclusions. 



1 This is interesting, inasmucli as Messrs. Cross and Beran, -ff-Mle -working on a 

 substance prepared in a somewhat similar manner from the jute fibre, state that they 

 found it to be soluble in alcohol, and, therefore, not pectic acid; which is rather re- 

 markable, as Sehunk found a pectic compound in the cotton fibre : and Dr. Hodges 

 and M. Kolb, ia their researches on flax, describe the presence of pectic com- 

 pounds. 



