7 61 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[March 23, 1872. 
of decayed fungi. It thus appears to be in substance 
an organized cellular tissue, resembling certain forms 
of fungi, as, for instance, the vinegar plant; and can¬ 
not be an oxidized or inspissated vegetable or mine¬ 
ral oil, as such always exhibit their substance amor¬ 
phous ; neither can it be asphalte, petroleum, or 
elaterite (elastic bitumen or mineral caoutchouc), 
they also being amorphous, and having the well- 
known smell of bitumen, especially when burnt. It 
does not vulcanize with sulphur like caoutchouc. 
This remarkable substance is carbonized by sul¬ 
phuric acid in the same way as many vegetable sub¬ 
stances, especially vegetable fibre, and cellulose. It 
is oxidized by nitric acid without the evolution of 
the odour of musk, or the production of succinic acid. 
The result of this oxidation is a soft, yellow, oily 
substance, that is quite liquid at 212° F., and burns 
with a bright clear flame, less smoky than that of 
the crude material. On complete combustion of the 
crude substance a small quantity of the ash is left, 
that I have not as yet examined. 
“ On submitting it to destructive distillation, gas¬ 
eous and aqueous products are evolved, together with 
acetic acid, and a tarry oil • consisting principally of 
eupion and creasote. These products resemble those 
of non-resinous woods—ash, elm, oak, etc.—when so 
treated, but they do not resemble the similar pro¬ 
ducts of bitumens in anything more than the general 
parallelism of such products. 
“ These facts go far to satisfy me that this sub¬ 
stance is in all probability a vegetable production, 
having the same elementary constitution as the fixed 
vegetable oils, and that it does not contain nitrogen 
or sulphur. .... 
“ It is resolvable into two educts :— 
“ 1st. Soft, semi-fluid, like a balsam, unctuous, but 
not greasing paper, and, except in its semi-fluidity, 
resembling vegetable wax. It is combustible, non¬ 
volatile, nearly inodorous, of an olive-green colour, 
soluble in sulphuric ether, chloroform, benzole, the 
fixed oils, spirit of turpentine, and essential oils. 
Insoluble in water; dilute mineral acids, absolute 
alcohol and wood naphtha. ' Miscible and soluble in 
excess of glycerine. Combines with caustic potash, 
forming a soap that is insoluble in water, but soluble 
in alcohol, which, on evaporation, leaves a soap that 
is then soluble in water. 
“ 2nd. A tough pulverulent substance, elastic, non¬ 
adherent by heat, resembling cork filings, combus¬ 
tible and insoluble, without decomposition in all the 
above-mentioned menstrua. It is acted on by sul¬ 
phuric acid and nitric acid in the same manner as 
the crude substance; it does not vulcanize, and ex¬ 
hibits under the microscope similar organized cellular 
structure broken up and confused. Solution of caus¬ 
tic potash sufficiently strong to dissolve animal 
muscle, even at a boiling temperature, has no action 
on it. 
“ It appears to be a modified form of cellulose as¬ 
sociated, but not chemically combined with the first 
■described educt. 
“ The whole substance, and the educts it is re¬ 
solvable into, are curious and novel, of considerable 
scientific interest, and probably of equal commercial 
importance, if existing in the abundance stated, 
namely, that of many miles in area, and in repeated 
layers. I consider it, therefore, to be neither caout¬ 
chouc, elastic bitumen, asphalte, petroleum, nor a 
dried oil, but a peculiar vegetable fungoid growth, 
and that it has no connection with coal or any other 
combustible mineral, except that, perhaps, it may be 
a hitherto unobserved representative of a vegetation 
that existed in the older formations, that by minerali¬ 
zation, heat and pressure, gave rise to some of the 
more resinous bitumens found .in thin sheets in 
strata.” 
(To be continued .) 
Cfesjjto for jgtuimits. 
CHEMICAL NOTES TO THE PHARMACOPOEIA. 
BY WILLIAM A. TILDEN, D.SC. LOND. 
DEMONSTRATOR OF PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY TO THE 
PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY. 
Saccharum Purificatum .—Cane Sugar. Sucrose, 
C'i 2 M 22 On* [§ Pure cane-sugar, prepared from the 
juice of the stem of Saccharum officinarum, Linn., 
from plants cultivated in the West Indies and other 
tropical countries.] 
The cane is not the only source of sugar. In 
France especially, a large proportion of the sugar of 
commerce is derived from the juice of the common 
beet. 
Cane-sugar is distinguished from other saccharine 
substances by its crystalline form, by its solubility 
in about one-third of its weight of cold water, and 
by its excessive sweetness. When melted by the 
cautious application of heat, it forms “ barley sugar.” 
No change of composition occurs, if the heat has not 
been too great or prolonged; and, by keeping, the 
crystalling structure of the sugar is gradually re¬ 
covered. It is blackened by strong sulphuric acid, 
but when boiled with water acidified by a few drops 
of any acid, it yields a syrupy liquid which is less 
sweet, and no longer crystallizes in the usual way. 
The substance so obtained is called “ inverted sugar,” 
because, whilst a solution of cane-sugar turns the 
plane of polarization of a ray of polarized light to 
the right, inverted sugar causes rotation to the left. 
This left-handed rotation is due to the production of 
two forms of glucose, one of which is strongly kevo- 
rotatory, whilst the other is dextro-rotatory, though 
to a much smaller extent. 
C 12 H 22 O n + H 2 0 = C 6 H 12 0 6 -j- C 6 FI 12 0 6 . 
Sucrose ( + )• Dext.ro- Lsevo- 
glucose ( + ). glucose ( —). 
Cane-sugar, warmed with a solution of tartrate of 
copper in liquor potassas, gives no immediate change, 
but after inversion, by acids or otherwise, it gives, 
with the same reagent, a copious deposit of red 
cuprous oxide. 
Treated with dilute nitric acid, cane-sugar yields 
first saccharic (C 6 H 10 -O 8 ), and afterwards oxalic 
acid. 
If a solution of inverted sugar be submitted to the 
action of sodium amalgam, the hydrogen disengaged 
by the action of the sodium upon the water attaches 
itself to the glucose, and mannite is formed. 
C 6 H 13 0 6 + Hj = C 6 H 14 0 6 . 
In turn, mannite, by a peculiar fermentation or by 
gentle oxidation, will yield a body having the same 
composition as glucose. 
The mutual relations of these interesting sub¬ 
stances will be more intelligible if we compare them 
to alcohol and some of its derivatives. 
