49  2 
Chemical  Notes. 
km.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Oct.,  1879. 
fused  with  caustic  potash  yields  pyrogallic  acid.  It  therefore  must  be 
a  derivative  of  this  phenol.  Its  formula  C16HuOe,  however,  corres- 
ponds to  a  mixed  resorcin  and  pyrogallol-succinin  rather  than  to  a  sim- 
ple pyrogallol-succinin,  which  would  be  C16H14Or  Meyer  found  that 
the  dry  distillation  yielded  both  resorcin  and  pyrogallic  acid,  the  former 
recognized  by  yielding  fluorescein  in  the  phtalein  reaction  (see  this 
journal,  page  276,  May,  1879),  and  the  latter  gallein  in  the  same 
reaction. — Ibid.,  p.  1392. 
A  Russian  chemist,  Wischnegradsky,  has  been  studying  the  deriva- 
tives of  Cinchonia,  and  discusses  its  relations  to  the  coal-tar  bases  chin- 
olin and  pyridin.  By  treatment  with  alkali,  cinchonia  was  decomposed 
into  chinolin  and  a  solid  compound,  which  could  be  itself  decomposed 
into  a  volatile  base  and  acids  of  the  fatty  series.  This  volatile  base 
just  spoken  of  is  a  colorless  liquid,  difficultly  soluble  in  water,  boiling 
at  io6°C,  and  possessing  a  composition  C7H9N.  On  oxydation  it 
yielded  carbonic  and  formic  acids,  together  with  a  nitrogenous  com- 
pound identical  with  mono-carbopyridenic  acid,  C6H502N,  and  the 
base  can,  therefore,  be  considered  as  ethyl- pyridin.  He  considers 
cinchonia,  therefore,  to  contain  both  the  chinolin  and  the  pyridin  mole- 
cules, or  rather  nuclei,  united  by  an  acid  radical.  Thus  the  empirical 
formula  of  cinchonia,  C20H24N2O,  would  allow  it  to  contain  the  chin- 
olin and  the  pyridin  groups  united  by  the  acid  radical  CH2 — CH — CO 
or  HC2 — CH2CO.  He  points  out  finally  that  a  synthesis  of  cinchonia 
can  possibly  be  made  by  bringing  together  dihydrolepidin  (methyl- 
chinolin),  dihydroethyl  pyridin,  and  the  chloranhydride  of  chloropro- 
pionic  acid — Russian  Correspond,  in  Ber.  der  Chem.  Ges.,  xii,  p.  1480. 
Synthesis  of  Helicin  and  Salicin. — The  synthesis  of  a  glucoside  or 
glucose-yielding  vegetable  substance  is  an  important  event  in  itself,  as 
this  had  never  been  accomplished,  but  in  this  case  it  seems  doubly 
important  as  the  method  seems  to  be  one  capable  of  general  application 
and  may  lead  to  much  greater  results.  A.  Michael  has  just  effected 
this  synthesis  in  Wurtz's  laboratory.  Taking  the  so-called  aceto- 
chlorhydrose,  the  product  of  the  action  of  acetylchloride  upon  glucose, 
and  acting  with  it  upon  potassium  carbolate  and  potassium  salicylite 
successively,  two  compounds  were  obtained,  both  of  which  showed  the 
characters  of  glucosides.  The  first  of  these  new  substances  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  found  as  yet  in  nature.     Michael  calls  it  pheno  - 
