382 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



■& 



It is obtained by exhausting the gum of the olive with sulphuric 

 aether, which removes a resinous matter ; the undissolved portion 

 is then treated with absolute alcohol, which dissolves the olivile 

 only j it is obtained in irregular crystals by evaporating the alco- 

 hol. It yielded 



by direct Calculated 



Analysis. Atoms. Results. 



Carbon , 63 : 84 6 63-91 



Hydrogen 806 9 7'85 



Oxygen 28-10 2 27*99 



Anchusic Acid. — M. Pelletier gives this name to the colouring 

 matter of alkanet root (Anchusa tinctoria). This substance was 

 first obtained in 1818: its acid properties are very distinctly marked. 

 It is of a red colour by itself, but all its combinations are of a blue 

 colour, the tint of which is variable, and in some cases it is mag- 

 nificent. 



Anchusic acid is a sort of fat acid, which is soluble in alcohol 

 and in aether; but it is very remarkable in forming neutral com- 

 pounds with the alkalies and earthy oxides, which are soluble both 

 in alcohol and in aether. The anchusate of magnesia is remarkable 

 for this property, and according to M. Pelletier, it is the only acid 

 which forms salts with the earths that are soluble in aether. An- 

 other property not noticed in M. Pelletier's original paper is, that 

 the anchusic acid, when cautiously heated, gives violet-coloured 

 vapours, somewhat resembling those of iodine : these vapours are 

 extremely pungent, and call to mind those of burning selenium; 

 on cooling they condense into very light flocks. It is, however, to 

 be observed, that there is but little difference between the tempe- 

 rature at which the acid sublimes and decomposes, so that it is 

 difficult to sublime it in considerable quantity. 



This volatility of anchusic acid places it in the same rank as 

 indigo and alizarine. It is composed of — 



by direct Atomic Calculated 



Analysis. Composition. Results. 



Carbon 71*178 .... 17 .... 71-23 



Hydrogen 6'826 20 6*84 



Oxygen 21-996 .... 4 21-91 



Ann. de Chim. et de Phys. torn. li. p. 182. 



ON AMBREINE, AMBREIC ACID, AND CHOLESTERIC ACID. 



M. Chevreul discovered in biliary calculi a peculiar substance of a 

 fatty nature, to which he gave the name of cholesterine : it is distin- 

 guished from other fatty matters by neither forming a soap nor suf- 

 fering decomposition by the action of the alkalies. 



MM. Pelletier and Caventou have since discovered in ambergris a 

 peculiar substance, which they term ambreine, similar to cholesterine 

 in resisting the action of alkalies, but sufficiently distinguished from 

 it by the difl'erence'of their fusing points, that of ambreine being 97° 

 Fahr., while that of cholesterine is 278° Fahr. There are also some 

 other properties in which they differ. Ambreine is composed of — 



