Colouring-matters of the so-called Bile of Invertebrates, fyc. 375 



oxidation of a chromogen. An alcoholic (rect. spirit) extract of a 

 yellow colour showed four bands and a doubtful fifth ; which read — 



1st Band X678— 661 or 681—658 "5 



2nd „ X616— 600 



3rd „ X584 '5—570? 



4th „ X552— 539 (Fifth uncertain.) 



With nitric acid it became greenish and gave the usual series of 

 bands. 



Bat some slight differences were observable in the behaviour of the 

 colouring matters of this liver tovvards solvents from those already 

 described. This I think may be due to the greater abundance of the 

 colouring-matters present.* Thus an ether solution gave two bands 

 in red, and was a greenish-yellow colour. The first band extended 

 from A696 — 690, the second from X6.74 — 661. The alcoholic solution 

 did not seem to be fluorescent. Chloroform extracted some colouring- 

 matter of a faint yellow colour, giving bands like those of the ether 

 solution, that in red extending from Xt>84 — 661. And a bisulphide of 

 carbon solution showed a band in red and one at the blue end of the 

 green. In addition to the two bands mentioned above, the ether 

 solution gave three others (as shown in sp. 7), which measured 

 as follows : — 



3rd Band X616— 596 



4th „ .... X5.70— 558 (about) 



5th „ X539— 530 



and a feeble shading from X494 — 474. 



When an alcoholic solution was treated with ammonia the spectrum 

 remained unchanged, and caustic soda was similar in its actioa. 

 Sodium amalgam also failed to produce a change. Sulphide of 

 ammonium developed no bands, and therefore hsematin was absent. 

 I may here remark that no lutein nor tetronerythrin was found in 

 the liver, nor was any found in the integument or elsewhere, an 

 observation which is important when one compares these results with 

 those obtained in examining the "bile" of Crustaceans and Echino- 

 derms.f 



Liver of Buccinum undatum. — The filtrate after digesting the 

 crushed liver in rectified spirit was a golden-yellow colour,J and its 

 spectrum was composed of four bands in a deep layer, sp. 8 ; 



* And the appearances suggest that in the liver of Octopus this pigment exists in 

 a more highly oxidised state than in other livers, or, perhaps, as acid enterochloro- 



phyii. 



f I have described the peculiarities of the colouring-matter of the integument of 

 Octopus in a paper communicated to the Birmingham Philosophical Society. 

 X This had a red fluorescence. 



