Cerin, a soft fragrant resin.
Yellow and red coloring matter.
Quercitannic acid.
Gallic acid.
A brown nitrogenous substance.
Salts of vegetable acids.
Calcium.
Water.
Suberic acid.
Suberin (cellulose).
I am inclined to think that Chevruel selected a poor grade of cork, full of stone cells and Jasperado, as his findings include much that would indicate that was the case.
In further defining the various substances which go to make up the body of corkwood the one that is most impressive is that substance that is peculiar to cork itself, the others being readily known, but suberic acid is the one of interest, and this is described by Fownes as a product of the oxidation of cork by nitric acid; is a white crystalline powder, sparingly soluble in cold water, fusible and volatile by heat, the chemical formula given being (C4H14O4). Suberic acid is also described as a dibasic acid which forms small granular crystals very soluble in boiling water, alcohol and ether. It fuses at 300 degrees Fahrenheit and sublimes in acidular crystals. It is also produced when nitric acid acts on stearic, margaric or oleic acid. The chemical analysis is given as (C8H14O4) and I am inclined to believe it is the truer one, as it is much later than Fownes’.
This suberic acid has been further broken up to ascertain its fundamental characteristics and it was found to partake of the two compounds suberone and suberate.
Suberone (C14H24O2) being regarded as the ketone of suberic acid, an aromatic liquid compound obtained when suberic acid is distilled with an excess of lime.[24] Also described as a colorless oil with an odor of peppermint and a boiling point of 179 to 181 degrees Centigrade, chemical formula, Suberone—Cycloheptanone—
CH2 . CH2 . CH2
/
CO
\
CH2 . CH2 . CH2
Suberate (C8H12M2O4) is known as the salt of suberic acid having a metal cast,[25] and Suberin or cellulose[26]—is that portion remaining after nitration and is chemically expressed by the formula (C6H10O5). Dr. Robert K. Duncan, Prof. of Industrial Chemistry in the University of Kansas, informs us that this material is the commonest of common things[27] and when dry, forms one third of all the vegetable matter in the world. This mysterious substance is the structural basis of the wood, but with all its prominence and use, we know nothing more about it than that which is expressed in the formula.
The presence of this cellulose is only a natural fact, as the greater part of plant life is cellulose; nor is the list of elements that go to make up the solid matter so strange and unaccountable, but the quality that makes it a wonderful growth and so popular above its fellows is its lightness—this is its commendable feature and it is light indeed.
Ure puts the specific gravity at .24 and this is concurred in by Brisbane.