552  Gleanings  from  the  Foreign  Journals.  {  ^""kiv^'isso!'™* 
By  the  action  of  dilute  mineral  acids  the  scillin  was  rapidly  con- 
verted into  a  fermentable,  strongly  laevogyrate  sugar,  which  was  recog- 
nized as  laevulose. 
Submitted  to  elementary  analysis,  numbers  were  obtained  approxi- 
mating to  the  formula  C^gHj^Ojo,  deficiency  in  carbon  found  by  the 
experiment  being  attributed  to  the  small  amount  of  inorganic  matter 
which  it  still  contained. 
When  dissolved  in  water  it  yielded  with  baryta-water  a  difficultly 
soluble  barium  salt,  the  analysis  of  which  indicated  the  formula 
(Ci2H^QOjQ)2BaO,  and  which  it  is  suggested  may  be  utilized  for  the 
purification  of  the  scillin.  —  'Journ.  de  Pharm,  et  de  Chi7n.^  Oct.,  l88o. 
(Note. — It  would  seem  possible  that  the  new  substance  described 
as  scillin  may  prove  to  be  identical  with  the  sinistrin  discovered  by 
Schmiedeberg  in  1879,  and  to  have  the  formula  CgH^oOg.  The  two 
substances  agree  in  their  amorphous  character,  non-reducing  action  and 
ready  convertability  into  laevulose,  although  further  comparative  experi- 
ments would  be  necessary  in  order  to  prove  their  chemical  identity. — 
Powder. 
On  the  Products  of  the  Distillation  of  Colophony.  By  Ad. 
Renard. — The  products  of  the  distillation  of  colophony,  submitted  to 
repeated  fractional  distillation,  and  then  washed  with  caustic  soda  in 
order  to  remove  several  acids  of  the  fatty  series,  furnished  among  other 
products  a  hydrocarbon,  boiling  at  103°  to  106°. 
To  obtain  it  pure,  it  was  again  washed  with  caustic  soda,  dried  over 
chloride  of  calcium,  then  left  a  short  time  in  contact  with  metallic 
sodium,  and  finally  distilled  over  a  fragment  of  that  metal  in  a  current 
of  carbonic  acid  gas. 
Upon  analysis  numbers  were  obtained  which  led  to  the  formula 
which  was  confirmed  by  a  determination  of  its  vapor  density. 
This  hydrocarbon,  which  the  author  calls  Hepten^  is  a  colorless, 
mobile  liquid,  possessing  a  peculiar  odor,  and  is  soluble  in  alcohol  and 
ether.  Its  density  at  20°  is  o  803 1,  and  it  is  without  action  on  polarized 
light. 
When  exposed  to  an  aimosphere  of  oxygen,  confined  over  mercury, 
it  rapidly  absorbs  this  gas,  forming  at  the  same  time  a  very  small  quan- 
tity of  carbonic  acid  gas. 
It  is  without  action  on  ammoniacal  solutions  of  chloride  of  copper  or 
nitrate  of  silver.  Treated  with  chlorine  it  furnishes  resinous  products 
and  disengages  hydrochloric  acid.     Bromine  acts  upon  it  with  violence 
