e in accordance with the experimental facts, and,
taken together with the new evidence we have accumulated from a study of
the lignocellulose esters, we may sum up the constitutional points as
follows: The lignocellulose is a complex of

Cellulose alpha Cellulose beta Lignone
65 p.ct. 15 p.ct. 20
Allied to the normal Yielding furfural One-third of which
celluloses approximately 50 p.ct. is of benzenoid
type

The lignone contains but little hydroxyl. The celluloses are in
condensed hydroxyl union with the lignone, but the combination occurs by
complexes of relatively large molecular weight.

DIE CHEMIE DER LIGNOCELLULOSEN--EIN NEUER TYPUS.

W. C. HANCOCK and O. W. DAHL (Berl. Ber., 1895, 1558).

~Chemistry of Lignocelluloses--A New Type.~

The stem of the aquatic _AEschynomene aspera_ offers an exceptional
instance of structural modification to serve the special function of a
'float,' 1 grm. of substance occupying an apparent volume of 40-50 c.c.
This pith-like substance is morphologically a true wood (De Bary), and
the author's investigations now establish that it is in all fundamental
points of chemical composition a lignocellulose, although from its
colour reactions it has been considered by botanists to be a cellulose
tissue containing a proportion of lignified cells. Thus the main tissue
is stained blue by iodine in presence of hydriodic acid (1.5 s.g.), and
the colour is not changed on washing. The ordinary lignocelluloses are
stained a purple brown changed to brown on washing. The reactions with
phloroglucol and with aniline salts, characteristic of these compounds,
is only faintly marked in the main tissue, though strongly in certain
individual cells.

The following quantitative determinations, however, establish the close
similarity of the product to the typical lignocelluloses:

_Elementary Analysis._--C 46.55, H 6.7. _Furfural_ 11.6 p.ct., of which
there remained in the residue from alkaline hydrolysis (71 p.ct.) 8.0,
i.e. about 70 p.ct. The distribution of the furfuroids is therefore not
affected by the alkaline treatment.

_Chlorination._--The substance (after alkaline hydrolysis) takes up 16.9
p.ct. Cl, of which approximately one-half is converted into hydrochloric
acid.

_Methoxyl._--O.CH_{3} estimated = 2.9 p.ct.