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acid. From the mass, insoluble in water, the author 
obtained five distinct substances, which were separated from 
one another by means of various solvents, such as alcohol, 
ether, ammonia, and carbonate of ammonia. These sub- 
stances were all brown and amorphous. Some of them 
resembled resins, others were powders. In general they 
were found to possess very few characteristic properties, and 
as they presented very little that could be of interest to 
the chemist, if their origin and their mode of formation be 
excepted, the author refrained from bestowing names on 
them and thus adding to the already unwieldy mass of terms 
with which chemical science has to deal, but preferred to 
distinguish them by the letters of the alphabet, as A, B, C, 
D, and E. The body A is easily soluble in cold alcohol and 
ether, but quite insoluble in alkalies. B is easily soluble in 
alcohol and ether, as well as in alkalies, both caustic and 
carbonated. These two have the appearance of resins of a 
rich brownish-yellow colour. C is very little soluble in 
alcohol and ether, and insoluble in alkalies. D closely 
resembles C, but is distinguishd by its solubility in alkalies. 
E is remarkable for being soluble in a boiling solution of 
acetate of soda. These three are brown powders. That 
portion of the mass soluble in alcohol and alkalies, but 
insoluble in ether, was not examined, as it was sure to contain 
some of the peculiar resinous product of decomposition, 
which is always formed by the action of caustic alkalies on 
alcohol, and which is supposed to be identical with the 
so-called “ aldehyde resin.” 
