ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF CARBON-COMPOUNDS. 
EDWARD KREMERS, PH. D., 
Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Wisconsin. 
In the winter semester of 1888-9, Professor August Kekule, 
in his course on the chemistry of the carbon-compounds at the 
University of Bonn, G-ermany, introduced the subject of fatty 
alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, acids, hydroxy acids, etc., by a 
lecture in which he gave a general survey of the theoretically 
possible hydroxy derivatives of the paraffin hydrocarbons. I 
suppose it was Prof. Kekule’s usual method of treating the sub¬ 
ject, but I am not warranted in making so broad a statement. 
However, this theoretical introduction is fully in harmony with 
the methods of teaching of this genial lecturer, known and cele¬ 
brated, not so much for the compounds he has discovered, but 
for his theories, that have prophesied the possibility of hosts of 
compounds, which have been prepared by others in the attempt 
to establish as well as in the attempt to overthrow Prof. 
Kekule’s theories. 
Considering the four hydrogen atoms to be symmetrically ar¬ 
ranged around the central carbon atom in the simplest paraffin 
hydro-carbon methane, it becomes evident that there can be, 
respectively, but one mono-, di-, tri- and tetra-hydroxy substi¬ 
tution product, as is shown by the following formulas, written 
for the sake of convenience as though all atoms were in the 
same plane: 
H O -II O—H O-H O—H 
However, it is a generally observed fact, that when two 
hydroxy groups are connected with the same carbon atom, there 
is a tendency for the elements of water to split off thus: 
C—H-f-H 2 0. 
\H 
