MR. SCHUNCK ON RUBIAN AND ITS PRODUCTS OF DECOMPOSITION. 
99 
tine. The eflfect produced by this substance on rubian, therefore, though it does not 
equal in energy that of the madder ferment itself, or even of emulsine, exceeds that 
of albumen or caseine. As regards the substances produced by it, its action resembles 
that of madder ferment when retarded by the addition of antiseptic substances, and 
it confirms the law which I have deduced from previous experiments, viz. that the 
more slowly rubian is decomposed, the more rubiretine and verantine are produced. 
It appears from these experiments, that none of the common and well-known 
fermentative substances, with the exception of emulsine, are capable of effecting in 
any considerable degree the decomposition of rubian, and that none of them, with 
that single exception, can be employed as a substitute for the ferment contained in 
madder itself, which produces an effect on rubian altogether sui generis. This 
circumstance alone, apart from all other considerations, would entitle the ferment of 
madder to be considered as an entirely distinct and peculiar substance, on which it 
will therefore be necessary to bestow a distinct name. For this purpose I venture to 
suggest the name of Erythrozym (from epvOpoc red, and tv pv ferment) as most appro- 
priately indicating its chief characteristic, and I shall now proceed to give a short 
account of its properties and composition. 
When prepared in the manner above described by precipitation with alcohol, 
erythrozym is obtained as a chocolate-coloured granular mass. When dried it coheres 
into hard lumps, which are almost black, and are with difficulty reduced to powder. 
When the dry substance is heated on platinum foil it emits a smell somewhere 
between that of burning peat and burning horn, and then burns without much flame, 
leaving a considerable quantity of residue, which, on being further heated, is soon 
converted into a grayish-white ash, ’consisting almost entirely of carbonate of lime. 
If erythrozym be well mixed while in a moist state with water, a reddish-brown 
muddy liquid is formed, having all the appearance of a solution. It is, however, no 
solution; the erythrozym is merely suspended in the liquid, for on filtering through 
paper a clear liquid passes through, while a mucilaginous substance remains on the 
filter. The latter, on being mixed with a solution of rubian, exerts the usual decom- 
posing effect on that substance, while the liquid, when tried in the same way, is found 
to be entirely without effect. Hence it follows that erythrozym, after having once 
been precipitated from its watery solution, even by alcohol, cannot again be dissolved 
in water. The liquid obtained by treating erythrozym with water and filtering, con- 
tains a small quantity of a substance, which, from its reactions, I conclude to be 
pectic acid, or some body nearly allied to it. In fact, the method of preparing ery- 
throzym implies that all substances contained in the watery extract of madder, inso- 
luble in alcohol, must be found mixed with it ; but since the erythrozym itself by pre- 
cipitation with alcohol becomes insoluble in water, these substances may afterwards 
be easily removed by treating with water. If the watery liquid in which the erythro- 
zym is contained in a state of suspension be boiled, a sort of coagulation takes place, 
and the erythrozym separates in the shape of dirty red flocks, while the liquid retains 
a reddish colour. The same effect is produced by adding alcohol or salts, such as 
