The term vegetable albumen, in its more restricted sense, is meant to designate a protein substance which is soluble in water and is coagulable by heat. The greater part of the proteid which exists in the seeds and sap of plants and is coagulable by heat, is not albumin but globulin, that is to say, it is insoluble in water, though dissolved by solutions of neutral salts. Whilst many protein substances in aqueous solution require a temperature of 100 ° C. before coagulating, or becoming insoluble under certain conditions, others coagulate at 65 ° C. Concentrated acetic acid dissolves all albuminous bodies with the aid of heat, concentrated nitric acid gives a yellow coloration (xantoprotein reaction). Albuminous substances are decomposed when heated to 150 ° C. developing a dark colour, swelling up and evolving an offensive smell, finally leaving behind a difficultly combustible coaly residue. Globulins combine with aqueous solutions of alkalis such as potash, soda, ammonia etc. producing alkaline albuminates; with acids they form acid albuminates or syntonins. Both have the property in common, that whilst they are insoluble in pure water, they readily dissolve in slightly acidulated or alkaline water, as well as in weak saline solutions, and are then no longer coagulable by boiling. Albuminous bodies are converted first into albumoses (proteoses), and then into peptons by gastric and intestinal digestion or by hydrolytic decomposition with acids or alkalis, also by the action of steam under pressure of many atmospheres, as well as by putrefaction. Albumoses, with the exception of hetero-albumose, are soluble in water. Peptons dissolve entirely and in that condition are absorbed by the animal organism. Albumins are precipitated from their solutions by strong alcohol, and in that way Zipperer succeeded in precipitating 4·25 percent of albumin from the aqueous extract of Trinidad cacao, which corresponds to about 25 percent of the total amount of albumen in the bean. The results of his investigation have shown that generally more soluble albumen is present in the unfermented than in the fermented bean. Consequently, it would appear that in the finer kinds of cacao beans, in which very careful fermentation has been carried out, the albumin, owing to fermentative alteration, is rendered less soluble. The constitution of albumin is still not sufficiently known, despite the excellent experiments of E. Fischer on this subject; generally it is regarded as having the formula: C 52·31-54·33% H 7·13- 7·73% N 15·49-17·60% S 0·76- 1·55% O 20·55-22·98%