THE ALUMNI JOURNAL, 



119 



Aconitine. — M. Freund and P. Beck state that 

 they have made fourteen carbon and hydrogen 

 determinations of crystallized aconitine, the re- 

 sults of which, together with other consider- 

 ations, lead them to adopt the formula C^j^H^- 

 NO] 1, instead of that ascribed to the alkaloid 

 by Dunstan and his pupils, namely, C33H45 

 Noi 3. Ehrenberg and Piirfurst regarded the sub- 

 stance obtained by boiling aconitine with water 

 as a mixture of the benzoates of two bases ; the 

 authors have obtained a homogeneous compound 

 by recrystallization. It melts at 202-203°, and 

 appears to leave the formula C;,,, fl- iNoj a, being 

 the benzoate of a base Cs^Hj-NOi,,, derived 

 from aconitine. The authors have examined 

 the salts of the last named base and come to 

 the conclusion that it is identical with Dunstan 's 

 isaconitine ; its properties also render it prob- 

 able that it is identical with Wright's picraconi- 

 tine. Attempts to prepare aconitine by acety- 

 lating pieraconitine have as yet yielded nega- 

 tive results. — Ber. C/iein. Gcs., 1894,433 



Dunstan replies to Freund and Beck, and 

 states that he and his collaborators have already 

 shown [Pharui. four. Trans., 1S94, 174, 29, 4, etc. 

 that aconitine in hydrolysis yields acetic acid 

 and ' 'isaconitine,'''' and that the latter is identical 

 with yNng^c^Vs pieraconitine. He has also proved 

 that isaconitine is benzoyl-aconine, and there- 

 fore not isomeric with aconitine. — Ibid, 664. 



M. Freund and P. Beck continue their works, 

 and give the details of their experimental work. 

 — Ibid, 720. 



The Emetics. — Paul Adam [Compt. Rend., 

 June 4, 1894). French chemists use the term 

 "emetic" irrespective of physiological action, 

 to include all compounds analogous in consti- 

 tution to the well known " tartar emetic." The 

 theories put forward concerning the constitu- 

 tion of the emetics may be reduced to two : Do 

 antimonious hydrate, ferric hydrate and boric 

 acid act in these salts as acids or as bases ? The 

 classic formuke corresponds to the second the- 

 ory, while the researches of Jungfleisch favors 

 the former, and are supported by the present 

 author. He concludes that the chemical analo- 

 gies and reactions of "emetics," properly so 

 called, should make us regard substances of 

 this kind as ether salts and not as double salts. 

 Chem. News, 1894, 301. 



Rose Oil. — ^J. Bertram and E. Gildemeister 

 could not isolate any rhodinol from the various 

 commercial geranium oils. A reinvestigation 

 of genuine rose oil shows that the geraniol from 

 this source is identical with that from all other 



known sources. The variation in the Sp. Gr. of 

 samples of geraniol are attributable to the ease 

 with which the oil oxidizes. A comparison of 

 the properties and behavior of the so-called 

 rhodinol leads to the conclusion that this sub- 

 stance is a mixture, consisting for the most part 

 of geraniol. just as Barbier's licorhodol is an im- 

 pure geraniol,— y'cwr. /. Prakt. Chem., 1894, 

 1895. 



Ceara Jaborandi . — E. M. Holmes points out 

 that a new kind of Jaborandi has been offered, 

 and that it resembles the genuine article in sev- 

 eral points. The leaflets resemble those of the 

 true Pernambuco Jaborand in their coriaceous 

 or leathery texture, and in the dark green or 

 brownish-green color of the upper surface and 

 the emarginate apex, but differs in the under 

 surface of the leaf being covered with short, 

 curved, simple unicellular hairs. On the upper 

 surfaces these hairs are present in the midrib, 

 but are only sparingly visible elsewhere on the 

 upper surface. The margin of the leaf is also 

 strongly incurved. When chewed it does not 

 cause a flow of saliva. According to Paul and 

 Cownley the leaves do not contain any consid- 

 erable amount of a base, forming a crystallizable 

 nitrate corresponding to the salt of pilocarpine- 

 — Pharm. Jour. Trans. 1894, 1065. 



Nezv Constituent of True Goto Bark. — G. Cia- 

 mician and P. Silber (Ber. d. Chem. Ges, 1894, 

 841.) The substance which forms the subject 

 of this paper was obtained in the purification of 

 cotoin on the large scale. It forms yellowish 

 crystals melting at 66 —68°, and has the formula 

 CijH^O^. In chemical properties it is closely 

 allied to paracoto'in, which the author considers 

 to be dioxymethylenephenylcouraalin, but it 

 differs from it by the absence of the dioxy- 

 methylene group, so that it receives the name 

 (provisionally) of phenylcoumalin. It may be 

 purified by treatment with hydrobromic acid, 

 which forms an unstable compound with it, and 

 this decomposes gradually, leaving the original 

 substance, which then only requires to be freed 

 from acid by dissolving it in alcohol and pre- 

 cipitating with water. It is readily soluble in 

 ether, alcohol, acetic acid, etc , but only very 

 sparingly soluble in water. It dissolves in al- 

 kalis and alkali carbonates, yellow solutions be- 

 ing formed which smell of acetophenones. 

 Sulphuric acid in the cold dissolves the com- 

 pound without alteration. It is, moreover, not 

 acted on by acetic arvlydr'ide or hydriodic acid, 

 and therefore does not contain hydroxyl or 

 methoxyl groups. 



