ABSTRACT
The chemical differentiation between the sexes of substances derived from various animal and plant products, which is shown by the Manoilov reaction, has aroused considerable interest. An attempt to throw light on the chemical changes involved in this reaction, together with a simplification of the test, will be described in this paper. The test as described by Manoilov (1) consists essentially of successive additions to an aqueous or 60 per cent, alcoholic extract of the substance in question of a definite number of drops of solutions of the following substances : papain, dahlia (or methyl green), potassium permanganate, hydrochloric acid, and thiosinamine. If the test is successfully carried out, the preparation from the female gives a pink to red or violet solution, while that from the male remains colourless. The directions for carrying out the tests include definite pauses after the addition of some of the reagents, and precautions against agitating the mixtures until after the addition of the first four.
