All heptoses produce with orcinol in dilute HCl two characteristic colored compounds which differ greatly in their absorption spectra. Three different modifications of this reaction were found useful. Procedure i--To 2 cc. of a solution containing 20 to 100 y per cc. of ketoheptose or 5 times as much of an aldoheptose is added 0.4 cc. of concentrated HCl, sp. gr. 1.19, in a test-tube with a gro...