'^"^Nov'^'issr"'}  Gleanings  from  the  Foreign  Journals.  553 
with  the  liberation  of  hydrobromic  acid,  but  by  allowing  it  to  drop 
gradually  upon  the  hydrocarbon,  and  allowing  the  mixture  to  remain  in 
contact  with  an  excess  of  bromine  for  two  or  three  days  in  the  dark,  a 
thick  liquid  is  obtained,  which,  after  washing  with  an  alkaline  water 
in  order  to  remove  the  excess  of  bromine,  leaves  a  heavy,  orange 
colored  oil.  The  latter,  treated  with  ether,  furnishes  a  crystallizable 
bromated  product,  which  may  be  purified  by  recrystallization  from 
boiling  ether,  and  the  analysis  of  which  leads  to  the  formula  C^HgBrg. 
This  body  melts  at  134°,  and  decomposes  at  about  I50°C.  with  the 
liberation  of  hydrobromic  acid. 
This  body  finally  changes,  by  keeping,  into  an  isomeric  hepten  hexa- 
bromide.^  which  is  an  oily  liquid. 
Fuming  nitric  acid  acts  upon  the  hepten  with  great  violence  with  the 
formation  of  resinous  products.  With  nitric  acid,  sp.  gr.  i'i5,  the 
action  is  slower,  and  does  not  commence  until  at  about  80°,  when  it 
furnishes  the  ultimate  products  of  the  oxydation  of  organic  matter. 
Upon  submitting  to  fractional  distillation  the  products  obtained  at 
200°  to  250°C.  a  hydrocarbon  polymeric  with  the  first-named,  is 
obtained,  boiling  at  235°  to  240°,  and  called  by  the  author  Dihepten, 
C14H24. 
This  hydrocarbon  is  very  easily  oxydized,  and  when  exposed  to  the 
air  becomes  rapidly  resinified.  Exposed  to  an  atmosphere  of  oxygen, 
confined  over  mercury,  it  absorbs  this  gas  eight  or  ten  times  more 
rapidly  than  the  hepten.  Finally,  the  hepten  is  capable  of  uniting  with 
the  elements  of  water  to  form  a  crystalline  hydrate,  and  which  can  be 
abundantly  obtained  by  exposing  for  some  time  a  small  amount  of  the 
hydrocarbon,  in  contact  with  water,  in  loosely-stoppered  vessels. — Ibid..^ 
from  Jc.  de  Sc.^  91,  p.  419. 
On  the  Presence  of  Vanillin  in  Crude  Sugars.  —  The  sugar 
which  was  employed  for  the  purpose  of  analysis  was  obtained  from  a 
refinery  in  Bohemia.  Two  kilograms  of  the  sugar  furnished  some 
•drops  of  an  oily  liquid,  possessing  the  strong  aroma  of  the  vanilla,  and 
which  it  retained  without  alteration,  even  when  exposed  to  the  air  for 
a  month.  From  this  liquid,  by  the  proper  treatment,  a  yellowish  oil 
was  obtained,  which  assumed  a  crystalline  form  after  some  time,  but 
which,  after  being  deprived  of  a  yellow  coloring  matter,  yielded  finally 
but  a  very  small  amount  of  the  pure  substance.  The  substance,  when 
pure,  forms  colorless  stellate  needles,  possessing  the  decided  odor  and 
taste  of  vanilla.  It  is  soluble  in  ether,  alcohol,  chloroform  and  naphtha, 
