ON THE CONSTITUENTS OF RUSH-PITH. 
91 
Products of Hydrolysis. 
(1) Method of Hydrolysis. 
go grams of the pith and 1800 c.c. of 5 % sulphuric acid were put into 
a porcelain jar. The jar and the contents were heated in a boiling water 
bath for 20 hours. During the heating the jar was kept covered, the 
contents being stirred from time to time. At the end of the stated period, 
the tissues of the pith seemed to have been disintegrated and the smell of 
furfurol was appreciable. When cooled it was filtered through muslin. The 
yellowish filtrate was neutralized with pure calcium carbonate and allowed 
to stand overnight. On the following morning, the calcium sulphate was 
filtered off through a “ Nutsch ” filter with suction and the filtrate was 
concentrated, with the addition of a little calcium carbonate to about 100 
c.c., in partial vacuum. The warm solution thus obtained was put into a 
dry flask with 500 c.c. of 85% alcohol and allowed to stand for about 10 
hours, when a blackish gummy substance adhered to the sides and bottom 
of the flask. The fluid was decanted and concentrated again in partial 
vacuum to about 100 c.c. To the remaining syrup, about 500 c.c. of 95% 
alcohol were added. This produced a second precipitate of yellowish gummy 
substance. After standing for a few hours, the clear solution was decanted 
and concentrated to a small volume. The syrup was once more purified by 
shaking with about 200 c.c. of absolute alcohol. The clear solution was 
decanted and evaporated down to about 70 c.c. The syrup thus prepared 
was preserved for furthei investigation, being indicated as syrup A. Another 
portion of the syrup was prepared from 150 grams of the pith, with 3000 c.c. 
of S% sulphuric acid, in exactly the same manner as described above. This 
is designated as syrup B in the statement below. 
(2) Detection of Xylose. 
Syrup A produced no ^crystals, even at the end of two weeks after 
preparation. It gave the following reactions ; 
1) It reduced Fehling’s solution very strongly. 
2) It rotated the plane of polarization toward the right. 
3) It gave the characteristic absorption-spectrum of pentose with 
phloroglucin and hydrochloric acid. 
