310  Recent  Literature  on  the  Soja  Bean.  {Amjl^Y;imavm' 
Stingl  and  Morawski  {Client.  Centralb.,  1886,  p.  724)  to  be  present 
in  the  soja  bean  to  a  greater  extent  than  in  many  other  leguminous 
seeds. 
This  ferment  is  said  to  have  a  powerful  action  upon  starch,  two- 
thirds  of  which  it  converts  into  sugar,  and  one-third  into  dextrin. 
Giissmann  has  determined  that  90  per  cent,  of  the  soja  protein, 
89-8  per  cent,  of  the  fat,  and  14-5  per  cent,  of  the  crude  fibre  are 
digestible. 
According  to  E.  Schulze  {Zeit.  Physiolog.  Chemie.,  12,405),  etio- 
lated soja  shoots  contain  as  much  as  7  to  8  per  cent,  of  asparagine, 
as  well  as  leucine,  phenylamidopropionic  acid,  choline,  and  bases  of 
the  hypoxanthine  groups,  whilst  the  presence  of  arginine  is  uncer- 
tain. In  this  latter  point  the  soja  shoots  differ  from  those  of  the 
lupines,  which  contain  plenty  of  the  arginine. 
The  oil  may  be  extracted  by  pressure  or  by  means  of  solvents ; 
it  is  said  to  possess  some  laxative  properties,  is  of  a  yellowish  brown 
color,  and  has  a  slightly  aromatic  odor ;  it  is  intermediate  between 
the  drying  and  non-drying  oils.  The  following  properties  are 
given  by  Stingl  and  Morawski  {Chem.  Zeit.,  1886,  p.  140): 
Specific  gravity  at  150   0*924 
Point  of  solidification   8°  to  150 
Fusing  point  of  fatty  acids   270  to  290 
Point  of  solidification  of  fatty  acids   230  to  250 
Temperature  rise   590 
Iodine  number,   121*3 
Iodine  number  of  fatty  acids   122*0 
Saponification  number   192*5 
The  starch  found  by  Pellet  and  Giissmann  was  not  found  by  Kell- 
ner,  and  this  absence  has  been  more  recently  confirmed  by  Inoyue 
{Bull.  Imp.  Coll.  Agriculture,  Vol.  2,  No.  4) ;  this  freedom  from 
starch  has  repeatedly  led  to  the  suggestion  that  soja  meal  be  used  in 
making  bread  for  diabetics. 
Levallois"(  Compt.  rend.,  93,  281)  found  a  sugar  in  soja  bean  which, 
on  precipitation  by  ether  from  its  alcoholic  solution,  forms  a  very 
deliquescent  mass ;  it  does  not  reduce  Fehling's  solution,  ferments 
readily  with  yeast,  and  is  converted  by  oxidation  with  nitric  acid 
into  mucic  and  oxalic  acids. 
The  thrifty  Japanese  have  not  been  slow  in  availing  themselves  of 
a  food  so  readily  cultivated  and  so  rich  in  proteids  as  to  form  a 
valuable  adjunct  to  their  rice.    The  drawbacks  of  the  soja  bean  are 
