GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  FRENCH  JOURNALS. 
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rectified  spirit,  and  heating  on  a  water  bath  to  complete  solution. 
On  cooling,  a  soap  is  obtained  which  is  perfectly  soluble  in  warm 
or  cold  water.  The  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris  have  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  report  on  the  above. 
On  the  Saccharine  substances  of  Acid  Fruits, — M.  H.  Buignet 
(Jour,  de  Chim.  Med.,  Feb.  1861,  from  Compt.  Rend.)  has  ar- 
rived at  the  following  conclusions  in  regard  to  this  subject : 
1.  The  original  sugar  of  acid  fruits  is  cane  sugar  Cj.^H^^O^^. 
2.  During  the  ripening,  this  sugar  gradually  becomes  charged 
with  a  sugar  identical  with  that  obtained  by  the  action  of  acids 
on  cane  sugar  Ci2^i2^i2- 
3.  At  the  period  of  maturity,  the  constitution  of  the  saccha- 
rine matter  varies  with  the  fruit. 
4.  The  cause  of  this  variation  is  due,  neither  to  natural  acids 
nor  to  tannin  contained  in  the  fruits,  but  to  a  ferment  analogous 
to  that  of  beer. 
5.  There  exists  an  affinity  between  this  altered  sugar  and  cane 
sugar  which  renders  their  separation  very  difficult. 
6.  The  process  which  operates  best  is  that  of  M.  Peligot;  it 
consists  in  forming  a  saccharate  of  lime,  that  is  separated  by 
ebullition  and  decomposed  afterwards  by  a  current  of  carbonic 
acid.  It  is  in  this  manner  that  crystallizable  sugar  has  been 
obtained  from  the  peach,  the  apricot,  the  plum,  the  apple,  etc. 
7.  Starch,  the  presumed  source  of  this  sugar,  cannot  be  de- 
tected by  iodine  water  or  the  microscope. 
8.  It  seems  represented  by  a  particular  principle  which  re- 
sembles tannin  ;  it  is  perfectly  isolable,  and  its  proportion  di- 
minishes in  measure  as  that  of  the  sugar  augments. 
9.  Green  bananas  always  contain  a  great  deal  of  starch  and 
tannin.  They  disappear  with  maturity  and  are  replaced  by  cane 
sugar. 
10.  There  is,  therefore,  an  essential  difference  between  the 
processes  of  art  and  those  of  nature,  in  reference  to  the  trans- 
formation of  either  starch  or  tannin  into  sugar  ;  between  the 
sugar  of  fruits  created  by  natural  maturization,  and  that  which 
is  the  result  of  artificial  ripening.  The  first  is  cane  sugar,  the 
latter  altered  sugar,  (sucre  interverti.) 
