of Edinburgh^ Session 1864-65. 439 
brown wine, of very sour taste, and having the flavour of port. It 
contained an abundant red deposit. 
Its density at 60° Fahr. was .... 994-06 
Total solids in 1000 parts, .... 19*66 
Salts, 2-79 
Alcohol, 50-00 
The total amount of free acid in 1000 parts was determined by 
means of a standard solution of soda, and found to be equal to 5*37 
parts of caustic soda. The amount of acetic acid was not separately 
determined. This wine contained a very large quantity of tannic 
acid still in solution, besides the large amount which had been pre- 
cipitated in combination with red colouring- matter. It contained 
no tartaric acid in solution. The exact amount of sugar was not 
determined ; it was, however, decidedly small. 
6. Preliminary Note on the Colouring Matter of Peziza 
ceruginosa. By Dr A. Crum Brov\m. 
The Peziza ceruginosa is a fungus belonging to the family Asco- 
mycetes, and order Elvellacese. Although the fructification is not 
often met with, the plant itself is by no means rare, growing on 
dead wood, chiefly of the oak, birch, and ash. It has an intense 
green colour, and tinges the wood on which it grows to a consider- 
able depth. 
The raw material upon which my investigations were made was 
derived partly from the plant itself, but to a much larger extent 
from the wood upon which it had grown, or was growing.* I am 
indebted for the wood and the plants to Dr Alexander Dickson, at 
whose suggestion I undertook this research. 
As Dr Dickson had observed that the colouring matter dissolves 
without apparent change in the strong mineral acids, but is spar- 
ingly soluble in dilute acids, I employed the following method for 
its isolation : — 
The wood, broken into small pieces, was placed in a large funnel. 
In order to determine with certainty the connection between the green 
wood and the Peziza, Mr M‘Nab of the Botanic Garden exposed pieces of the 
wood, which showed no trace of the fructification, to heat and moisture, when 
large crops of the fungus were obtained. 
