366 CHEMISTRY OF THE LEUCOMAINS. 



tion yields hypoxanthin. It, as well as its methyl derivatives, may 

 be also prepared from the synthetic adenin and its methyl derivatives 

 by treatment with nitrous acid. 



It has been obtained, usually accompanying adenin and guanin, 

 from nearly all of the animal tissues and organs rich in nucleated 

 cells, i. e., in nuclein. It has been found in blood after death, but 

 not in blood when flowing through the blood vessels. Salomon has 

 recently shown it to be a normal constituent of urine, present, how- 

 ever, in an exceedingly minute quantity. 



From 10,000 liters of urine Kriiger and Salomon obtained 8.5 g. 

 of hypoxanthin. For the other bases present, see xanthin, p. 389. 



In the blood and urine of leucocythsemic patients it occurs in in- 

 creased quantity owing to the abnormally large number of nucleated 

 white blood corpuscles in circulation (p. 348). Bence Jones ob- 

 served in the urine of a boy, who about three years before showed 

 the symptoms of renal colic, a deposit of characteristic whetstone- 

 like crystals, resembling uric acid, but differing from the latter by 

 dissolving readily on the application of heat, while from hydrochloric 

 acid it crystallized in elongated six-sided plates. These crystals he 

 believed to be those of xanthin, but Scherer and others considered 

 them to be hypoxanthin. It is therefore quite possible, though very 

 rare, for this base to form a deposit in the urine and to be con- 

 founded in shape with uric acid. Thudichum obtained it from 

 the urine of persons sick with liver or kidney diseases. Accord- 

 ing to Jaksch, it is present in exudates and transudates with uric 

 acid. 



Among other places it has been found in the brain, muscle, serum, 

 marrow of bones, kidney, heart, spleen, liver, peripheral muscles 

 (sarkin of Strecker), in the adrenals (Holm, Okerblom); in the 

 spawn of salmon (Piccard), in the testicles of the bull (Salomon), in 

 the nuclein of pus and red corpuscles (Kossel), in developing eggs, 

 and in putrefaction of albumin (Salomon). It has also been found 

 in the spores of lycopodium, and in the pollen of various plants, in 

 seed of black pepper, in grass, clover, oats, bran of wheat, larvae of 

 ants ; in the juice of potato (Schulze) ; in certain wines (Kayser) ; 

 in the aqueous decoction of beer yeast (Schiitzenberger) ; and also 

 in the liquid in which yeast is grown (Bechamp). In the auto- 

 digestion of yeast hypoxanthin and xanthin disappear and only 

 adenin and guanin remain (Kutscher) (see p. 348). 



Demant has shown it to be relatively abundant in the muscles of 

 pigeons in a state of inanition, while in muscles of well fed pigeons 

 it is said to be entirely absent. Salomon found hypoxanthin and 

 xanthin in the cotyledons of lupine, as well as in the sprouts of malt, 

 while Eeinke and Rodewald observed these two bases together with 

 guanin in ^thalium septicum. With adenin, xanthin, and theo- 

 phyllin, it occurs in tea-leaves (Kossel) ; but Kriiger (1896) showed 



