344  White  and  Black  Mustard  Seed.  {Am7u°iy"-iS5arm* 
sulphocyanate  partially  purified  by  repeating  the  solution  in  alcohol 
and  separation  several  times.  Alkalies  color  it  intensely  yellow,  and 
acids,  if  added  at  once  to  this  solution,  restore  the  original  sulpho- 
cyanate ;  but  if  the  alkaline  solution  be  boiled  and  the  acid  added,  a 
heavy  precipitate  is  formed.  This  precipitate  is  sinapinic  acid,  the 
same  which  is  called  by  Blyth,  sinapnc  acid.  Sulphocyanic  acid  is 
given  off,  and  remaining  in  solution  is  a  very  deliquescent  base, 
sinkalin,  which  is  undoubtedly  a  derivative  of  trimethylamine,  and 
has  since  been  shown  to  be  identical  with  cholin. 
It  might  be  inferred  from  the  above  that  the  compound  is  the 
sulphocyanate  of  a  base  composed  of  sinkalin  and  sinapinic  acid,  or 
that  it  is  the  sinapinate  of  a  base  composed  of  sinkalin  and  sulpho- 
cyanic acid.  But  from  the  experiments  performed  by  Will  on  sina- 
pine,  it  seems  more  probable  that  it  is  a  base  composed  of  sinkalin 
and  sinapinic  acid,  and  cannot  be  isolated  on  account  of  its  insta- 
bility. The  sinapine  sulphocyanate  may  be  converted  into  the  acid 
sulphate  by  the  addition  of  sulphuric  acid  to  its  alcoholic  solution. 
The  acid  sulphate  crystallizes  in  beautiful,  slender,  monoclinic 
prisms,  seldom  large  enough  to  be  seen  except  under  the  micro- 
scope. 
Myrosin  may  be  obtained  by  extracting  the  powdered  white  seed 
with  cold  water,  concentrating  in  vacuum  below  400  C.  and  then 
precipitating  with  as  small  a  quantity  of  strong  alcohol  as  possible, 
filtering  and  washing 'the  precipitate  on  the  filter  with  alcohol  until 
no  red  color  is  produced  in  the  filtrate  by  the  addition  of  ferric 
chloride  (even  after  the  addition  of  water),  and  no  longer  colored 
yellow  by  ammonia.  -  - 
The  work  still  remaining  to  be  done  on  the  mustard  is  the  deter- 
mination to  a  certainty  of  the  nature  of  the  alkaloid  sinapine 
sulphocyanate,  and  the  investigation  of  the  nature  and  composition 
of  myrosin. 
The  satisfactory  study  of  the  ferments  is  an  exceedingly  difficult 
one,  but  it  seems  that  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  be  able 
to  analyze  and  study  myrosin  better  than  many  other  organic  com- 
pounds that  have  been  studied. 
Professor  E.  C.  Franklin,  of  the  University  of  Kansas,  suggested 
a  synthesis  of  the  pungent  fixed  oil  (?)  of  white  mustard.  An  at- 
tempt was  made  to  carry  this  out,  but  owing  to  numerous  draw- 
backs, such  as  the  accidental  breaking  of  sealed  tubes  containing 
