464 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [DECEMBER 
crystallized out of water in a very elaborate form, simulating frost 
crystals. Later it was found that it crystallized as long monoclines 
out of alcohol or ether. The two resene tests were applied to this 
substance, with positive results in both cases. 
SALKOWSKY-HESSE TEST 
Sulphuric acid solution after shaking: golden yellow. 
Chloroform solution before evaporation: pale yellow, nearly colorless. 
Residue after evaporation of chloroform in porcelain dish: first, bright 
yellow; later, rich dark brown; red brown; ending in deep violet. 
No fluorescence. 
MACH TEST 
Color of residue from evaporation of alcoholic solution of resin with hydro- 
chloric acid and ferric chloride: dark re 
This resene is saturated, failing to absorb iodine, but is weakly acid. 
These positive tests, together with the general physical prop- 
erties of the substance, were proof that the material under analysis 
was a resene, a type of fatty aldehyde. It was further discovered 
that all of the resinic acid was converted into resene in the process 
of steam distillation. 
Two preparations of resene from steam distillation of spring 
roots were made during August 1916. One of these was placed in 
a glass-stoppered bottle and the other in a loosely corked vial. An 
examination after 6 months showed that the former preparation 
was in the original crystalline state, while the latter had been con- 
verted into a lemon-colored resin, and had completely lost its 
crystalline structure. This fact supports the view that the resene 
had been converted into resinic acid by an oxidative process, such 
as holds true for terpenes in general. This process follows the 
natural method expected in the plant tissues, and is the reverse of 
the reduction process in the presence of steam. 
The discovery that resene is derived from resinic acid gave rise 
to the inquiry as to whether resene might not be found in the 
Balsamorrhiza plant; in short, whether there might not be a genetic 
connection between the two substances in the plant itself. The 
_ following methods were carried out in this inquiry: modified resene 
tests en bloc and modified Mach tests applied microchemically. 
