The Detection and Estimation of Insect Chitin; and the Irrelation of “Chitinization” to Hardness and Pigmentation of the Cuticula of the American Cockroach, Periplaneta Americana L
The cuticula and intima of insects have long been known to contain an organic compound remarkable for its insolubility in solutions of potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide of any concentration. Through this property it was discovered in the elytra of May beetles by Odier (36) in 1823 and was named chitine (spelled chitin in German and English), by him from χιτών , a Greek garment. This substance is well known by name to American entomologists who frequently use the term “chitinous” or “chitinized” in morphological or taxonomic descriptions, but its properties and distribution in insects are still so poorly understood by them that these terms are often misapplied.