Scientific Proceedings. 



(239) 69 



white crystalline powder so obtained was analyzed. (See Table I, 

 160 A.) A second sample of the same substance, prepared by 

 the same method from another lot of kidneys, but recrystallized 

 only once, and therefore, which was less pure, contained nearly 

 the same percentages of phosphorus and nitrogen, allowance being 

 made, in the calculations, for the 1.77 per cent, of lead in it (Table 

 I, 160 B). 



The solubilities and reactions of this substance correspond to 

 those of the compound which Thudichum calls " sphingomyelin," 

 when it contains, as impurities, small quantities of kerasin and a 

 cerebroside to which he assigned no name. Upon hydrolysis with 

 barium hydrate, this substance from the kidney yields ammonia, 

 trimethylamin, a substance reducing Fehling's solution, and, 

 apparently, an acid forming a barium salt which is insoluble in a 

 mixture of absolute alcohol and ether. These cleavages are anal- 

 ogous to those observed by Thudichum on hydrolysis of his 

 sphingomyelin. 



A portion of the lead-free substance (160 A) was dissolved in 

 hot 85 per cent, alcohol and precipitated with cadmium chlorid 

 in alcoholic solution. The precipitate was removed by filtration, 

 redissolved in 85 per cent, alcohol and kept at 30 0 C. over night. 

 This procedure separates kerasin from sphingomyelin. The pre- 

 cipitate that had formed during the night was rapidly removed 

 with a Buchner filter, pressed, dried and analyzed (Table I, 160 

 A — CdCl 2 ). The percentages of phosphorus and nitrogen in a 

 second but less pure sample of this cadmium chlorid compound 

 are also given (Table I, 160 B — CdCl 2 ), and, for comparison with 

 these, the results of analyses of "sphingomyelin" and "apomyelin" 

 by Thudichum. He obtained cadmium salts containing 16.86 

 per cent. CdCl 2 and 26.59 P er cent - CdCl 2 , an< 3 believed that these 

 variations depend upon the relative abundance of compounds con- 

 taining one and two molecules of cadmium chlorid, respectively ; 

 assigning the limits 16.4 per cent. CdCl 2 and 28 per cent. CdCl 2 

 to these two hypothetical compounds. The percentages of cad- 

 mium chlorid found in the similar products from the kidney fall 

 within these limits, and the percentages of cadmium and chlorin 

 are in close accord with the assumption that the cadmium is present 

 as chlorid, thus indicating that the salt is an addition product. 



