A  NEW  CHLORAL. 
371 
cellent  coffee.  The  berries  contain  a  large  amount  of  glucose 
(grape  sugar),  and  may,  consequently,  be  used  for  the  production 
of  spirits,  after  fermentation.  Of  far  more  importance,  how- 
ever, may  be  a  substance  which  the  author  has  discovered  in  the 
berries, — viz.,  the  pigment  contained  therein,  and  named  spar- 
gancine — a  yellowish  red  coloring  matter,  soluble  in  alcohol  and 
ether,  and  yielding,  with  salts  of  lead  and  alumina,  yellow-colored 
pigments.  The  author's  researches  on  this  subject  are  not  com- 
plete, owing  to  want  of  sufficient  raw  material.  As  regards  the 
horny  seeds  they  contain  oil,  grape  sugar,  a  peculiarly  bitter 
principle,  spargine,  some  resin,  and  a  coloring  matter.  It  ap- 
pears that  the  crop  of  asparagus  berries  (at  least,  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Niirnberg,  Bavaria,  where  the  author  resides)  is  very 
large  ;  a  single  plant  yielded  more  than  J  lb.  of  berries. — Chem, 
News,  Lond,,  May  G,  1870. 
A  NEW  CHLORAL. 
Dr.  Hofmann,  who  was  present  at  the  last  meeting  of  the 
Chemical  Society,  related  some  interesting  facts  connected  with 
the  manufacture  of  chloral  in  Berlin. 
It  appears  that  in  many  of  the  Grerman  distilleries  the  crude 
spirit  is  purified  by  filtration  through  a  deep  bed  of  charcoal.  In 
consequence  of  the  adoption  of  this  method  a  considerable  quan- 
tity of  aldehyd  is  generated  in  the  spirit ;  and  in  these  distilleries 
a  certain  portion  of  the  produce  is  so  far  contaminated  with  this 
substance  as  to  be  unfit  for  any  of  the  uses  of  spirit  of  wine. 
Since  the  manufacture  of  chloral  has  become  a  matter  of  so 
much  importance  (Dr.  Hofmann  states  that  one  maker  in  Berlin 
is  producing  a  hundred  pounds  per  day),  it  appeared  likely  that 
this  spirit,  containing  aldehyd,  would  find  an  economic  applica- 
tion. The  formula  of  chloral  indicates  that  it  is  the  chlorine 
derivative  of  aldehyd,  and  the  first  action  of  chlorine  upon  al- 
cohol is  to  remove  two  atoms  of  hydrogen,  liberating  aldehyd, 
which,  by  a  substitution  change,  is  then  converted  into  chloral : 
CJigO-f-Cl^  =  C2H4O+2HCI. 
Alcohol.  Aldehyd. 
CJI^O+Clg  C,IICl30+3nCL 
Aldehyd,  Chloral, 
