THE Editor has received the following communication and letter from Prof. F. W. Clarke : Dear Sir William,-I enclose a brief note which I should like to have inserted in the CHEMICAL NEWS. I think English chemists should stand up for their country. man. Yours sincerely, F. W. CLARKe. R.CO.ONa+ NaOH = RH+ Na2CO3, where R is an alkyl or aromatic radicle, such as methyl, ethyl, or phenyl, it might be imagined that, by heating the salts of hydroxy acids, alcohols might be obtained. For example, taking lactic acid, if its sodium salt be heated with soda-lime, the following reaction might take place:ciation of Chemical Societies in Brussels last September In order to test this, sodium lactate, intimately mixed with soda-lime, was destructively distilled in an iron tube under reduced pressure at a temperature just below redness. A distillate was obtained consisting of two layers, an upper one consisting of a brown oily liquid, having an odour of peppermint, and a lower aqueous one. By saturating the aqueous portion with solid anhydrous potassium carbonate a liquid was separated which turned out to be acetone. The brown oily portion of the distillate appeared to consist mostly of mesityl oxide. It is evident, therefore, that ethyl alcohol, if formed, is at once oxidised. This is not surprising when it is remembered that alkalis can act as oxidising agents at high temperatures. One might imagine that the ethyl alcohol is first oxidised to acetic acid, which then loses water and carbon dioxide, giving acetone. This, by condensation of two molecules losing water, would give mesityl oxide, thus, This by oxidation gives acetone, which then undergoes condensation, giving mesityl oxide. It is thus evident that in these pyrogenic reactions the theoretical first products are only formed, when they are highly stable compounds (such as saturated hydrocarbons). Otherwise oxidation and dehydration occur. A fact to be noted is that very little charring takes place during the heating. Time did not permit of further experiments with other hydroxy acids being carried out, especially as the results obtained were, on the whole, negative. University College, Gower Street, W.C. Dextro-camphorates of Potassium.-E. Jungfleisch and Ph. Landrieu.-The authors have prepared and studied the properties of the following four compounds of potassium and camphoric acid :-Dipotassium d-camphorate, monopotassium d-camphorate, monopotassium d-dicamphorate, and monopotassium d-tetracamphorate. The first of these is very stable and is not decomposed by water, while the others are very unstable in presence of water and decompose to give the dipotassium camphorate and camphoric acid.-Comptes Rendus, clvii., No. 19. At a meeting of the Council of the International Asso a Committee on Inorganic Nomenclature, among other recommendations, endorsed the name and symbol "niobium" and "Nb" for the element which was originally named columbium. As this recommendation is historically erroneous, a brief statement of the facts appears to be desirable. In 1801, Hatchett, an English chemist, analysed a strange American mineral, and in it found a new metallic acid; the oxide of an element which he named columbium. A year later, Ekeberg, in Sweden, analysed a similar mineral from Finland, and discovered another element, which he called tantalum. Wollaston, in 1809, undertook a new investigation of these elements, and concluded that they were identical; a conclusion which, if it were true, would have involved the rejection of the later name and the retention of the earlier columbium. The accepted rules of scientific nomenclature make this point clear. For more than forty years after Hatchett's discovery both names were in current use; for although Wollaston's views were accepted by many chemists there were others unconvinced. In 1844, however, Heinrich Rose after an elaborate study of columbite and tantalite from many localities, announced the discovery of two new elements in them, niobium and pelopium. The latter supposed element was afterwards found to be non-existent, but the niobium was merely the old columbium under a new name. That name in some mysterious manner was substituted by the German chemists for the original appropriate name, and has been in general use in Europe ever since. In America the name columbium has been generally preferred, and was formally endorsed by the Chemical Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science more than twenty years ago. In England also columbium is much used, as, for example, in Roscoe and Schorlemmer's "Treatise on Chemistry," Thorpe's "Dictionary of Applied Chemistry," and the new edition of the "Encyclopædia Britannica." The foundation of Rose's error seems to have been an uncritical acceptance of Wollaston's views; for he speaks of all the minerals he studied as tantalite. He also, at least in his original memoir, claims that the atomic weight of niobium is greater than that of tantalum, and here he was obviously wrong. In short, the name columbium has more than forty years priority, and during that interval was accepted by many chemists, and was more or less in current use. To employ the name niobium is not only unhistorical, but it is also unfair to the original discoverer, meaningless, and without any justification whatever. Furthermore, it injures the splendid reputation of Rose, for it perpetuates and emphasises one of his few errors. The recommendation of the Committee above mentioned should not be accepted, for it is opposed to the established rules of priority. Fluorine as a Constant Constituent of the Emanations from the Earth's Core.-Armand Gautier.Fluorine is always found to be present when the following are examined :-The minerals formed in crystalline rocks, thermal springs, emanations from the soil, volcanic gases, and gases from solfaturi. All these products have a very deep-seated origin. Other elements also frequently accompany it, viz., boron, sulphur, nitrogen, arsenic, chlorine, bromine, iodine, silicon, carbon (as CO2), sodium, free hydrogen, copper, &c.-Comptes Rendus, clvii, No. 19. THE SCIENTIFIC WEEK. (From Our Own Paris Correspondent). APPARATUS FOR TESTING METALS BY IMPINGEMENT really industrial. They are:-First, dipping into a bath of molten metal; second, electrotyping; third, the Schoop process. M. Nicolardot describes these processes, and shows how they are practised. The only metals with which objects of iron or copper can be plated by a simple dipping are zinc, lead, and tin. The process succeeds only because they form alloys with the underlying metal. The testing of metals by impingement presents practical The practice of this process requires the employment of difficulties that have been the object of a recent study by considerable quantities of melted metal (as much as MM. G. Charpy and Cornu. These scholars have under-10 cubic metres) in one workshop. This is a cause of very stood that, in order to obtain a comparison between serious accidents that often occur when hollow objects metallic bars in spite of inevitable local inequalities, it is or objects insufficiently dried after scouring are plunged necessary to impress them with very feeble deformations, into the melted metal. No way has been found up till the very inferior to those that might determine the beginning present time to completely suppress these accidents. The of a rupture. Tests have been made with a view of dis- process, in spite of the improvements it has received, give covering if, in operating on un-notched bars, the defect by irregular coatings of unequal adherence and thickness. flexion with the beetle pendulum gave the same identical Considerable quantities of metal are consumed, some of it results, concordant with each other. The tests passing into the coating that is always thicker than is made with a beetle or ram-pendulum of 30 kilogs. with a necessary, and some into the dross which it partly transthe employment of a considerable plant, and the temperaforms. Lastly, the working of the process necessitates ture of the bath must not exceed 500°; moreover, the plated pieces undergo a second annealing and are sometimes deformed. For all these reasons many trials have been made to obtain metal platings in different manner. Electrolysis only gives a partial solution to the problem, for it can only be performed on objects of rather small dimensions. By this process all the usual metals, excepting lead and aluminium, can be deposited. By different means trials have been made to improve the were fall of 1.314 metres, and with a pendulum of 300 kilogs. with a fall of 3.197 metres. The relative average error was, in the first case, of 14 per 100; in the second case, of 10 per 100; that is to say, that the practical identity of the results may be reckoned upon. All the same it is most necessary to take into account the friction against the angular props, and, for both knives and props, to adopt a very rigorously defined form, presenting no acute angles. STUDIES ON THE RADIO ACTIVITY OF METEOROLOGICAL adherence, the coherence, the compactness, and the WATERS. success. ment of molecules. regularity of electrolytic deposits, but with only partial M. Nicolardot explains the reason of this, and shows the impossibility of obtaining a perfect result. Indeed, the deposit is the result of a veritable bombardThey are thrown from one of the electrodes to the other, and their passage is such that the deposits on the planes are always circular or elliptic rings. The superposition of these rings and their displacement gives to the final deposit an alternatively increasing or diminishing thickness, following certain laws, and it is their great number that gives the illusion of their uni This wire A learned physicist, M. Munzo del Castillo, with the help of several collaborators, has effected a certain number of researches concerning the radio-activity of waters of different sources which have led to extremely interesting results. He has remarked that rain-water collected in winter contained a notable proportion of emanation which went on gradually decreasing, as well as a certain quantity of ions that had entirely disappeared at the end of twelve days. Snow that had fallen in Madrid in February also showed a pretty well marked radio-activity. The same physicist has measured the activity of the air of the sub-formity. The third process, that of Schoop, in its present soil. To extract it he introduced into ditches of two metres deep, at different depths, apparatus formed of a horizontal square surmounted by a cylinder that was filled with little stones and that communicated with the outside by a vertical iron tube; thus at any moment air could be extracted from the sub-soil. The measures and observations taken in autumn have shown that there is no relation between the compared activities of the air of the subsoil and atmospherical air. The activity of the air of a sub-soil of pretty hard consistence appears to be greater than that of a soft sub-soil. Down to two metres beneath the surface the radio-activity increases with the depth. Other determinations, effected in winter on the compared activities of the air of the sub-soil and of atmospheric air, have enabled it to be observed, besides, that the variations of pressure and of radio activity of the air of the subsoil are of the same sense as those of atmospheric air, and that the temperature and direction of the wind do not appear to exercise any influence on the radio-activity of the sub-soil. Lastly, M. del Castillo has also taken measures of the radio-activity of several Spanish mineral water springs, and he has noticed a certain activity for the waters of Rivas (Gerona), of Caldas de Juy (Pontevedra), of the Sierra Juansanta (Murcia), and of Garganton (Guadarrama). METALLIC COATINGS. M. P. Nicolardot has just made an interesting communication to the Academy of Sciences on the "Actual State of Industrial Metallic Coatings." Of all the processes proposed to obtain metallic coatings on the surface of objects, metallic or not, only three have become form consists in projecting violently on to the object the &c. SUBTERRANEAN FIRE IN THE COAL FIELDS OF DECAZEVILLE. Layers of coal are always in combustion in the coal bed of Decazeville, particularly between that place and Crausac, over a length of about 6 kilometres. At Decazeville in the great basin in which the Commentry-Fourchambault-Decazeville Company, in the open air, works a layer CHEMICAL NEWS, Jan. 2, 1914 Selective Absorption of Ketones. of 50 metres thick, the least crack in connection with the deep ground sends forth an abundance of smoke. More to the south, at Combes, thirty or forty years ago, the flames issuing from the cracks of the mountains illuminated all the country round during the night. Since then the intensity of this furnace has decreased; nevertheless it is still in activity, the ground is burning hot, and when it rains the mountain is enveloped in mist and steam. A part of the ground to the north of Crausac is called the Etuve (vapour-bath or oven). By digging down into the soil for a dept of 50 centimetres you arrive at an oven of 50°. There was formerly a mineral magnesium spring there, and these natural baths or ovens were employed in the treatment of certain maladies. After the tracing of the galleries of the mines the spring disappeared. How. ever, there is another one of the same kind at Combes. Quite lately, as has been reported by M. G. Patrouilleau, the presence of the subterranean fire to so very far from the surface has been remarked in the town of Decazeville itself. Some workmen who were digging in one of the streets of the town a cutting for laying an armoured cable of 3000 volts, remarked with surprise that, for a length of about 20 metres at about 1 metre's depth, temperature rose to 75° C. The cable was laid, armoured, and isolated by paper, by suspending it in a kennel with lateral chimneys or aeration. From the upper chimney hot air and large quantities of steam come forth. According to the inhabitants of the town this elevation of temperature might have been foreseen, for indeed in the portion of the street under consideration the snow does not lay and the rain water is quickly evaporated. M. Patrouilleau says that from the calcined vestiges found in the basin the fire is in a state of retrogression, but the layers of coal intact are so powerful and so close together that an extension of the Scourge, due to subterranean landslips, for example, is always to be feared. THE ZODIACAL MATTER AND THE SOLAR CONSTANT. The existence of little intermercurial planets may be revealed by the observation of the perturbations that their masses determine, as well as by the reflection of the solar light and by occultations at periodic intervals. In particular the long periodic inequalities that are to be met with in the theory of the moon may be explained by the existence of a swarm of little intermercurial planets circulating near the sun (Radan, Shint, Blancat). Lastly, the fact that in the month of March the southern edge of comets is brighter than the northern edge, which is further removed from the earth, may be explained by admitting that the zodiacal light represents the elliptic projection of concentric rings crossed by swarms of planets. The passage of these swarms twice a year, in May and November, before the sun seems to be accompanied, according to MM. Abbot, Towle, and Aldrich, by slow and periodic variations of the solar constant, amounting to 5 per 100 in about from seven to ten days. Colloidal Properties of Meta-hæmoglobin. Modification of Viscosity and Surface Tension of Suspensions by HCl and NaOH.-Filippo Bottazzi.-An aqueous suspension of pure meta-hæmoglobin has about the same viscosity and surface tension as distilled water. When, under the action of HCl or NaOH, the meta hæmoglobin passes into solution the viscosity of the liquid increases and the surface tension diminishes, the reverse taking place when the acid or alkali is neutralised. When the viscosity has been increased by the addition of HCl it begins to decrease if an excess of acid is added. The addition of sodium chloride produces a small but constant diminution of the surface tension. The lowering of the surface tension depends principally on the undissociated molecules of proteïn.-Atti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei, xxii [ii.], No. 6. PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. ROYAL SOCIETY. Ordinary Meeting, December 11th, 1913. 7 Sir WILLIAM CROOKES, O.M., President, in the Chair. PAPERS were read as follows: "Intermittent Vision." By A. MALLOCK, F.R.S. When a wheel turns so rapidly that the separate spokes cannot be seen or easily followed by the eye, and if at the same time the observer receives a small mechanical shock of almost any kind, the spokes appear almost stationary for a fraction of a second. The appearances depend on the speed of rotation, on the brightness of the illumination, and, to a lesser degree, on the nature of the shock. Suitable shocks are given by the contact of the feet with the ground as in walking by tapping the head or body, and in many other ways. The convention by which rapid rotation is indicated in drawings, namely, that of introducing a large number of radial lines in place of the actual spokes, probably has its origin in one form of the same phenomenon. In the paper some experiments are described bearing on the relation between the appearances and the speed of rotation, and an explanation is suggested depending on an assumed variation of sensibility produced by a slight shock. This variation, which it appears is rapidly extinguished, has a periodic time of about 1/18 second, but this differs slightly for different individuals. "Attempts to Observe the Production of Neon or Helium by Electric Discharge." By Prof. the Hon. R. J. STRUTT, F.R.S. The present experiments were begun in the hope of confirming the work of Collie and Patterson (Trans. Chem. Soc., 1913. ciii., 419; and Proc. Chem. Soc., 1913, xxix., 217). The results have been negative, whether from a failure to appreciate the proper conditions for the production of neon by electric discharge through hydrogen or from some other cause. The test for neon was carried out so that the amount found in 1/100 cc. of air could easily be detected. It was found difficult or impossible to be sure of excluding air, when the hydrogen was pumped out from one apparatus and transferred to another by pneumatic trough manipulation. This kind of manipulation was avoided. The hydrogen, after each experiment, was converted into water by admitting a little oxygen into the discharge vessel and continuing the discharge for a short time at intervals. The resulting water vapour was frozen out in a side tube cooled by liquid air. Diffusion was free enough to soon remove the whole of it, and a pure oxygen discharge remained. The oxygen could easily be removed by cooled charcoal. Thus the entire series of operations were carried out in one closed apparatus. The discharge with electrodes in a cylindrical tube was tried, both at the cathode-ray stage and at higher pressures; also the electrode-less discharge. The duration of each experiment varied from 8 to 20 hours. In no case was any trace of neon observed. "The Relations between the Crystal-symmetry of the Simpler Organic Compounds and their Molecular Constitu tion." Part III. By WALTER Wahl. "The Selective Absorption of Ketones." By Prof. G. G. HENDERSON and I. M. HEILBRON. Many aliphatic ketones containing one of the groups CH2.CO- or -CO.CO, as well as their derivatives, absorb selectively in the visible and ultra-violet regions. Some at least of them exist in keto and enol modifications, R.CH2.CO.R' and R.CH:C(OH). R', and according to one hypothesis their absorption is due to some intramolecular vibration which occurs when one tautomeric form changes into the other. Recent work, however, has shown that ali-, phatic ketones of the type R.CO.R' are entirely ketonic in form, no trace of an enol modification being present; further, it has been proved that the absorption of ethyl aceto acetate, which can exist in both forms (CH3.CO.CH2.CO2Et and CH3.C(OH):CH.CO3Et), is independent of any keto-end oscillation. Hence it is improbable that this form of oscillation is the cause, even indirect, of selective absorption. The authors have found that the selective absorption of a large number of simple ketones is of the same type, since the absorption bands of all are practically identical. They suggest that the absorption of these compounds may be due to electronic disturbances accompanying oscillations which arise from the alternate formation and breaking down of unstable ring systems within the molecule. For example, the following figures indicate the two phases (each having only a momentary existence) which, according to this suggestion, acetone may assume The magnetising coils are four in number; they are vound in single layers on marble cylinders, and the disosition of coils with respect to discs is such that the esulting magnetic fields through the discs are opposed in direction, and the intensity of the field at points in the neighbourhood of the edge of a disc is of zero value, or nearly so. Each of the two discs supports ten insulated bronze segments placed at equal distances around its circumference, and the ten segments on one disc are connected to those on the other disc by ten conducting wires passing through the centre of the shaft. When the wires rotate a difference of potential is produced between their ends. These differences of potential may be placed in parallel or in series and balanced against that on a standard resistance R through which the same current flows as through the coils. The resistance R can thus be found in terms of mutual inductance of coils and brush-contact circles and rate of rotation of conductors. The brushes consist of thin phosphor bronze wires stretched by spiral springs, and resemble violin bows. Petrol is employed as a lubricant for the brushes. Speed is maintained constant by an electrical method. The result of the experiments is that a resistance of one international ohm is equal to 100052 0.00004 ohms (109cm./sec.). "A Determination of the Electromotive Force of the Weston Normal Cell in Semiabsolute Volts." By A. N. SHAW. (With a Preface by Prof. H. L. Callendar, F.R.S.) This paper represents the completion of work commenced by Prof. H. L. Callendar and Mr. R. O. King in the years 1894 to 1898. The E.M.F. of the Weston Cell was balanced against the P.D. on a standard ohm due to a current of about 1 ampère measured by means of an electrodynamometer of the type described and figured by Clerk Maxwell ("Electricity and Magnetism," vol. ii., p. 339). The original electrodynamometer proved defective in rigidity of the frame and suspension, and in insulation of the coils, the dimensions of which could not be measured with sufficient accuracy. The coils were rewound with a double winding, affording a perfect check on the insulation. The mean radius of the large coils was determined by winding with a measured length of hardrolled copper tape, graduated on a 50 foot comparator. These coils were also made reversible and interchangeable, in order to eliminate small residual errors of symmetry in determining the mean distance between their planes. The constant of the suspended coils was determined by a null method of comparison with the large coils. A duplex method of reading the deflections was devised, giving an order of accuracy approaching I in 100,000. The bifilar suspension was modified so that the control depended mainly on gravity, but there remained a small correction amounting to about 3 parts in 10,000 due to the imperfect elasticity of the suspending wires. The work of reconstructing the apparatus was performed entirely by Mr. King, during 1897-8, under the supervision of Prof. Callendar, who published an account of the preliminary observations made with the apparatus in his paper on "Continuous Electrical Calorimetry" (Phil. Trans., A, 1902, p. 89). The present author, holding a scholarship endowed by Mr. King, has repeated and verified Mr. King's measurements and results, and has extended the observations and calculations up to the limit of accuracy attainable with the apparatus. In particular, he has been able, by a careful study of Mr. King's suspension (Phil. Mag., 1912), to determine the correction for imperfect elasticity within very narrow limits. The final result for the E.M.F. of the Weston Cell in semi-absolute volts by this method comes out 101827 at 20° C., which agrees closely with the mean of the best recent determinations, namely, 101824. The agreement is of interest because the method presents so many radical points of difference from the majority of those recently employed. "Elastic Hysteresis in Steel." By F. E. ROWETT. A thin-walled steel tube was coupled to a coaxial tube of greater section and length. The compound tube was twisted, and the twist in each component measured by spirit levels. The twist of the large tube, in which the stress and therefore also the hysteresis was small, measured the torque applied to the small tube. Strains of the order 10-6 were measured in this way, and the energy dissipated by elastic hysteresis during a cycle of stress a little within the elastic limit determined within 2 per cent. The dissipation was observed when the same tube was subjected to similar stress cycles at a rate of 60 per second. For this purpose the tube was fixed at one end, a fly-wheel mounted on the other, and the rate of decay of torsional oscillations was observed photo. graphieally. The energy dissipated per cycle was found to be the same as in the static experiment. The elastic hysteresis in hard drawn tubes was about one-eighth of that in the same tube after annealing. "A Simple Form of Micro-Balance for Determining the Densities of Small Quantities of Gases." By F. W. ASTON. 1. A simple micro-balance is described, by which the densities of gases may be determined relative to some standard gas, using a null method. 2. About half a cubic centimetre only of the gas is required. 3. The determination can be performed in a few minutes, with an accuracy of o'r per cent. 4. Possibilities of its use in other fields of research are indicated. "On a Second Spectrum of Neon." By г. R. MERTON. The Spectrum of Neon has been investigated under different conditions of electrical excitation. It has been found that with a condensed discharge a second spectrum is developed, as in the case of Argon, Krypton, and Xenon. The strongest lines of the ordinary spectrum are also feebly visible when a condensed discharge is used. CHEMICAL NEWS, Jan. 2, 1914 CHEMICAL Constituents of Commercial Chrysarobin. SOCIETY. Ordinary Meeting, November 6th, 1913. Prof. W. H. PERKIN, LL.D., F.R.S., President, in the Chair. (Concluded from vol. cviii, p. 317). 274. "The Action of Chlorine on m-Iodoaniline and on m-Bromoaniline," By HAMILTOM MCCOMBIE and PERCY JAMES WARD. : When m-iodoaniline is chlorinated in glacial acetic acid solution, 2 4 6 trichloro-3-iodoaniline is produced. Under no conditions could an iododichloride be obtained; this is contrary to the experience of Willgerodt and Wikander (Ber., 1007, xl., 4068), who considered that they obtained an unstable iododichloride. When 2:4: 6-trichloro-3-iodoaniline is treated with alcoholic ethyl nitrite, 2:4: 6-trichloroiodobenzene is produced, which has been described previously by several observers. 2:46-Trichloro-3-iodoaniline could not be converted into a hydrochloride, nor could it be benzoylated in presence of sodium hydroxide. The acyl derivatives of m-iodoaniline showed a slight tendency to the formation of iododichlorides, but these proved to be very unstable, and readily yielded ring substitution products. The prolonged action of chlorine on m-iodoaniline resulted in the formation of 2:23:44:6 hexachloro-5CHCI.CC12iodo-cyclohexenone, CCl2 CICCI CO. In this reaction the amino-group has been removed in the form of ammonium chloride, whilst the iodine atom still remains in the molecule. The constitution of this ultimate chlorination product is based on the following reactions:-1. On treatment with potassium iodide, the compound yields 2:4: 6 trichloro-3-iodophenol. On treatment with potassium acetate in the presence of acetic acid, there results 2:34 6-tetrachloro-5-iodophenol. 3. Concentrated sulphuric acid converts the compound into 2:36-trichloro-5-iodo-p-benzoquinone. 2. Analogous results have been obtained on chlorinating m-bromoaniline under the same conditions as were employed for the iodo-compound. 275. “Guanidinium Nitrite and its Decomposition by Heat." By PRAFULLA CHANDRA RAY, MANIK LAL Dey, and SARAT CHANDRA JANA. Guanidinium nitrite, from the conductivity measurement of its aqueous solution, is found to behave like a typical alkaline nitrite with two ions. When heated, guanidinium nitrite yields ammonia, hydrocyanic acid, nitrogen monoxide, and nitrogen among the gaseous products, and leaves a residue which was proved to be melamine. 276. The Absorption of Light by Uranous Chloride in different Solvents." By THOMAS RALPH MERTON. The absorption spectra of uranous chloride solutions in different solvents have been investigated, more especially in the presence of free hydrogen chloride. In some cases the presence of a small quantity of water produces a It is conmarked change in the absorption spectrum. cluded that the vibrators responsible for different bands or groups of bands are situated in different molecular aggregates. 9 278. "The Action of Nitrogen Iodide on Methyl Ketones." By FREDERICK DANIEL CHATTAWAY and ROBERT REGINALD BAXTER. Ketones containing a methyl group react very readily with nitrogen iodide, iodoform, ammonia, an acid, and an amide being formed, In the reaction the methyl group appears to be completely substituted by iodine, a tri-iodomethyl ketone being formed, which in presence of the ammonia simultaneously set free is hydrolysed to iodoform and an acid. a similar reaction between the substituted ketone and ammonia leading to the formation of iodoform and an amide. The reactions may be formulated thus: 279. "Note on the Constituents of Commercial Chrysarobin." By FRANK TUTIN and HUBERT WILLIAM BENTLEY Clewer. In a recent communication (Trans., 1912, ci., 290) the authors described the results of the examination of several samples of commercial chrysarobin. During the course of this research the following substances were isolated :— Chrysophanol ("chrysophanic acid "), C15H10O4; emodin monomethyl ether, C16H12O5; chrysophanolanthranol, C15H12O3; dehydroemodinanthranol monomethyl ether, C16H1204; ararobinol, C23H1605; and emodin, C15H1005. It was furthermore pointed out that commercial chrysarobin is subject to considerable variation in the relative proportions of its constituents, some samples being even entirely devoid of certain compounds which occur in others. In all the products examined, however, the first four of the above mentioned compounds were invariably found to be present. Very shortly after the appearance of the above communication a paper on the same subject was published by O. Hesse (Annalen, 1912, ccclxxxviii., 65). The results described in the latter paper, however, are such as would give the impression, at first sight, that the conclusions of Hesse and those of the present authors had very little in common. Some further explanation of the subject therefore appears desirable. Hesse mentions as constituents of commercial chrysarobin the following substances:-" Chrysophanul" (see Note) (chrysophanolanthranol); "emodinol ❞ (emodin. anthranol); the methyl ethers of both these substances; and a new substance, C15H12O4, which is designated as chrysarobol. It is stated by Hesse, however, that of these five substances, only two, namely, "chrysophanol (chrysophanolanthranol) and chrysarobol, had isolated directly in a pure state from commercial chrysarobin, whereas all the constituents described by the present authors were directly isolated in a state of purity. been (NOTE. It would appear unfortunate that Hesse should have employed the name chrysophanol for the anthranol of "chrysophanic acid," since the former name had already been employed by the present authors (loc. cit., p. 292), and previously by Tschirch (Arch. Pharm., 1911, cclxix., 222, and 1912, ccl., 27), as the designation for pure 'chrysophanic acid." Moreover, since Hesse himself (Annalen, 1899, cccix., 32) and Jowett and Potter (Trans., 1902, lxxxi., 1577) have previously applied the name "chrysarobin" to chrysophanolanthranol, the employment of yet a third name for this substance only adds to the confusion already existing). Chrysophanolanthranol has long been known to be a constituent of commercial chrysarobin, but chrysarobol has not been obtained by the present authors. This is doubtless due to the varying composition of the com |