Q 
14 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
H 
C \ O-OH 
0— OH 
CH 2 
Glyceric Acid. 
H 
C 
c 
0 OH 
0 OH 
H 2 
H 
C OH 
OH 
H 2 
C 
C 
O 2 
c 
o 2 
O OH 
c 
() 
OH 
! O-OH 
“ Glucose has been perhaps too little investigated to afford data sufficient 
to determine definitely its formula. Taking, however, mucic and saccharic 
acids as starting-points, these bodies may be meanwhile represented as : — 
H 
C 1 O— OH 
H 
0— OH 
) H 
j 0— OH 
Mucic and Saccharic Acids. 
H 
C 0 OH 
H 
C' 
c 
c 
c < 
0 OH 
H 
H 
OH 
H 
C' 
0 
c 
c 
Ih 
O— OH* 
o 2 
O 2 
j O— OH 
C‘ 
0 OH 
H 
OH 
H 
C 
C-. 
c : 
c 
0- OH* 
:.o 2 
o 2 
• 0....0H 
O- OH ” 
C-... 
c ;■ 
OH 
H 
OH 
: o 
o 
c 
.OH 
•OH 
| 0— OH 
The error here is, essentially, the application to mucic and saccharic 
acids of the second possible mode of formulating oxalic acid, with the 
two acid hydroxyls on the same carbon atom. On the other hand, the 
formula for glucose is right, if we suppose the aldehyde group — CHO 
transformed, by the addition of water, into the group 
/H 
-Cs 
OH 
OH . 
* In the papers this “ OH ” has been omitted in error. 
