1889.] Occurrence of Skatole in the Vegetable Kingdom. 211 



Table showing the comparative Weight of Shells of similar Size. 



Locality. 



Level. 



Extremes 

 of length 

 in mm. 



Average 

 length of 

 20 speci- 

 mens. 



Total 

 weight in 

 grams of 

 20 speci- 

 mens. 







21—17 



19 -2 



13-3 





1st terrace 



21—17 



19-1 



14 1 





2nd terrace 



21—17 



19-4 



14 5 





4tli terrace 



21—17 



19 -2 



6-5 





5th terrace 



21—17 



18-9 



6 1 





7th terrace 



21—17 



19 -7 



4-6 







21—17 



19-0 



6-4 





Upper deposit 



23 — 19 



20 - 4 



7 - 8 



Ditto 



LoAver deposit 



23—19 



20 -4 



5-5 





Lower deposit 



21—17 



19-2 



5-1 



Sub-fossil shells at Man- 













26 -21 



23 -4 



24 2 







25—22 



23 8 



12 





(Fresh water) 



25—20 



21 -4 



18-3 





(Fresh water) 



26—23 



24-1 



23 -6 



IV. " On the Occurrence of Skatole in the Vegetable Kingdom." 

 By Wyndham R. Dunstan, M.A., F.C.S., Professor of 

 Chemistry to, and Director of the Research Laboratory of, 

 the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Communi- 

 cated by W. T. Thiselton Dyer, C.M.G., M.A., F.R.S. 

 Received May 23, 1889. 



Skatole is the name given by Brieger (' Deutsch. Chem. Gesell. 

 Ber.,' vol. 10, p. 1027 ; ' Jonrn. fur Prakt. Chem.' [2], vol. 17, p. 129) 

 to a substance he obtained in 1887 from human excrement (to 

 GKwp, o-Karo?) which possessed the disgusting odour of the faeces, 

 jSTencki (' Journ. fur Prakt. Chem.' [2], vol. 17, p. 98) soon afterwards 

 recognised the same substance among the products of the decompo- 

 sition of albumen by fused potash. Secretan ('Deutsch. Chem. 

 Gesell. Ber.,' vol. 10, p. 1031) isolated skatole from the products 

 of the putrefaction of albumen. Later, Salkowski (' Deutsch. Chem. 

 Gesell. Ber.,' vol. 12, p. 651) separated it from the putrefaction 

 products of flesh and afterwards from those of various forms of 

 animal proteid (' Zeits. fiir Physiol. Chem.,' vol. 8, p. 417). Tappen- 

 heinier (* Deutsch. Chem. Gesell. Ber.,' vol. 14, p. 2382) has found 

 skatole in the intestines of several herbivorous animals, and recently 

 Stoehr ('Deutsch. Chem. Gesell. Ber.,' vol. 20, p. 1108) has obtained 

 it, along with indole and other substances, by distilling strychnine 



