OLYSIS OF WOOD.~

The author criticises Simonsen's explanation of the results obtained
with extracts from pine wood. The incompleteness of fermentation of the
products is certainly due in part to the presence of furfural-yielding
carbohydrates, which are resistant to yeast. The pine woods contain 8-10
p.ct. of these constituents in their anhydride form ('pentosanes'). They
yield readily to acid hydrolysis, and certainly constitute a
considerable percentage of the dissolved products. A similar complex was
obtained by the author in his investigation of peat (Berl. Ber. 30,
2571), and was found to be similarly incompletely attacked by yeast. The
yields of alcohol corresponded with the proportion of the total
carbohydrates disappearing. These were the hexose constituents of the
hydrolysed complex, the pentoses (or 'furfuroids') surviving intact.

UEBER SULFITCELLULOSEABLAUGE.

H. SEIDEL (Ztschr. angew. Chem., 1900).

~WASTE LIQUORS FROM BISULPHITE PROCESS.~

(p. 210) Later researches confirm the conclusion that in the soluble
by-products of these cellulose processes the S is combined as a SO_{3}H
group. The following analyses of the isolated lignin sulphonic acid are
cited:

________________________________________________
| | | | |
| | C | H | S |
|__________________________|_______|______|______|
| | | | |
| (a) Lindsey and Tollens | 56.12 | 5.30 | 5.65 |
| (b) Seidel (1) | 56.27 | 5.87 | 5.52 |
| (c) Seidel and Hanak (2) | 53.69 | 5.22 | 8.80 |
| (d) Street | 50.22 | 5.64 | 7.67 |
|__________________________|_______|______|______|

The variations are due to the varying conditions of the digestion of the
wood and to corresponding degrees of sulphonation of the original
lignone group. Calculating the composition of the latter from the above
numbers on the assumption that the S represents SO_{3}H, the following
figures result:

__________________________________
| | | | |
| | (a) and (b) | (c) | (d) |
|___|_____________|_______|_______|
| | | | |
| C | 64.00 | 65.1 | 59.61 |
| H | 6.65 | 6.33 | 6.69 |
|___|_____________|_______|_______|

This author considers that beyond the empirical facts established by the
above named[10] very little is yet known in regard to the constitution
of the ligno