^*Feri;  187L }    A  rtificial  Preparation  of  Mannite.  79 
priced  musk.  There  may,  possibly,  be  two  musk  roots,  both  indige- 
nous to  Central  Asia,  one  being  exported  through  Russia,  the  other 
from  the  East  Indies. 
The  musk  root  contains  about  9  per  cent,  of  a  soft  oleoresin,  ob- 
tainable by  ether,  which  in  contact  with  water  has  the  odor  of  musk. 
It  contains  a  peculiar  acid,  sumbulic  acid,  which  appears  to  differ  from 
iingelicic  acid  and  from  umbelliferon.  It  has  been  long  known  that 
the  root  belongs  to  an  umbelliferous  plant  ;  flowers  and  fruits  have 
sometimes  been  found  with  it.  The  latter  differing  from  those  of 
other  umbelliferge,  were  made  the  type  of  a  new  genus,  and  the  plant 
was  named  Sumhulus  moscliatus. — Hagers  Ph.  Qentrallialle  1870, 
No.  39,  367,  368.  J.  M.  M. 
ON  THE  ARTIFICIAL  PREPARATION  OF  MANNITE. 
By  Joseph  M.  Hirsh,  of  Chicago. 
Query  8. — The  relation  of  mannite  to  glucose  in  composition  is  very  close. 
Can  mannite  be  prepared  artificially?  and  if  so,  how?  And  has  it  the  same 
physiological  properties  ? 
The  preparation  of  artificial  mannite,  attempted  at  the  instance  of 
this  honorable  body,  has  been  but  a  partial  success,  in  so  far  as  I 
could  not  in  every  instance  obtain  a  product  of  exactly  the  same 
composition  from  the  raw  material,  commercial  glucose.  Trials  with 
pure  grape-sugar  invariably  failed,  in  my  hands,  to  produce  that  pe.. 
€uliar  nauseous  principle  characteristic  of  manna. 
For  the  sake  of  brevity,  I  shall  mention  the  outlines  of  my  experi- 
ments in  this  direction. 
I  made  glucose  in  the  usual  manner  from  starch,  leaving  about  ten 
per  cent,  of  dextrine  in  the  same  undecomposed,  but  did  not  concen- 
trate the  glucose  more  than  to  15°  Beaume.  To  this  solution  I  added 
five  per  cent,  of  wheat  flour,  five  of  molasses,  and  as  much  of  common 
malt  vinegar,  when  the  mass  was  at  a  temperature  of  100°  F.  In 
twenty-four  hours  a  lively  fermentation  had  set  in,  which  continued 
for  three  days,  when  I  concentrated  the  liquid,  which  then  showed  the 
peculiar  nauseous  taste  and  odor  of  manna.  Digested  with  alcohol, 
mannite  dissolved,  crystallizing  upon  evaporation  of  the  alcohol,  while 
dextrine  and  other  impurities  remained  behind  undissolved. 
The  peculiar  nauseous  principle  appears  to  be  partly  decomposed 
matter,  undergoing  a  gradual  change  into  humus.    Whoever  has  been 
