160 
NOTE  ON  VEGETABLE  IVORY. 
The  work  from  which  the  foregoing  is  quoted  contains  some 
statements  of  much  importance.  Among  other  things  the 
author  alleges  that  the  amount  of  hydrocyanic  acid  is  larger 
when  the  water  is  prepared  with  a  hard  well  water  than  when 
distilled  water  is  employed.— Chem.  News,  Nov.  14,  1863. 
NOTE  ON  VEGETABLE  IVORY, 
By  Dr.  Phipson,  F.  C.  S.,  &c. 
Vegetable  ivory  i3  the  fruit  of  Phytelephas  macrocarpa,  a 
plant  allied  to  the  palm-trees,  common  in  South  America.  At 
the  period  of  maturity  the  grain  forms  a  hard  mass  resembling 
ivory  or  bone,  which  is  manufactured  into  various  kinds  of  orna- 
ments. According  to  an  analysis  by  Mulder,  its  composition 
may  be  represented  by— 
^12^21^21  =2^12^10^10+^0  J 
Baumhauer  obtained  a  precisely  similar  result  some  years  later. 
I  have  found  that  vegetable  ivory  takes,  in  contact  with  con- 
centrated sulphuric  acid,  a  splendid  red  color,  almost  equal  to 
magenta.  This  color,  at  first  pink,  then  bright  red,  becomes 
much  deeper  and  more  purple  when  the  acid  has  been  allowed 
to  act  for  about  twelve  hours. 
This  reaction  may  sometimes  be  found  useful  in  order  to  dis- 
tinguish small  pieces  of  vegetable  ivory  from  the  ivory  of  the 
elephant's  tusk,  or  from  bone,  neither  of  which  take  this  beau- 
tiful red  color  in  contact  with  sulphuric  acid. 
The  analyses  quoted  above  show  that  the  greater  portion  of 
vegetable  ivory  is  pure  cellulose,  but  the  reaction  produced  by 
sulphuric  acid  proves  that  other  substances  are  present,  for 
cellulose  does  not  become  red  with  sulphuric  acid.  Mr.  Connel 
found  in  1845  that  vegetable  ivory  contained  81-34  per  cent,  of 
cellulose,  and  that  the  other  substances  were  gum  6-73,  legumine 
3-80,  albumine  0-42  (that  is  4-22  of  albuminous  substances),  oil 
0-73,  water  9-37,  and  ash  0  61  =  100.  Filings  of  vegetable 
ivory  dried  at  140°  to  150°  C.  give  1  per  cent,  of  ash. 
Payen  found  that  these  filings  when  boiled  with  caustic  soda 
took  a  yellow  color,  a  fact  confirmed  by  Baumhauer,  who  asserts 
that  potash  does  not  produce  any  color. 
