SAXIFRAGACEZ, 587 
- The alcoholic extract of the powdered drug contained a large 
quantity of a tannic acid, with some uncrystallizable sugar. 
The tannic acid was soluble in hot water and reprecipitated on 
cooling; its insolubility was prevented by adding ammonia 
until the cold solution was neutral; neutral plumbic acetate 
then removed the whole in the form of a reddish-brown sedi- 
ment. . The acid gave a blue-black solution with ferric salts, a 
precipitate with gelatine, and showed evidence of its glucosidal 
nature. The acid was very similar to the gallo-tannic acid of 
oak-galls. The resemblance is very close when comparing 
their lead salts: gallo-tannie acid leaves 50°00 per cent. of 
lead oxide, the tannic acid under examination left 50°40 per 
cent. of oxide as the mean of two fairly concordant estimations. 
The filtrate from the lead precipitate, after treatment with 
_ hydrogen sulphide, was composed entirely of sugar readily 
reducing Fehling’s solution, No alkaloids or mineral salts 
were detected. 
The aqueous extract contained gum, tannic acid, sugar and 
- a small amount of inorganic salts. 
The treatment of the residual powder with a one per cent, 
soda solution dissolved out some red colouring material and 
metarabin. On adding acetic acid to the solution, it at once 
pectinized ; this effect was produced also when ferric chloride, 
iodine in potassium iodide, and sulphuric and hydrochloric 
acids were added. ‘he pectinization was very remarkable. 
As it would have required an enormous amount of spirit to 
cause the precipitate to separate, its estimation would have 
been attended by a great loss. In the following table, the 
* metarabin, albumen, &c., is the loss on the powdered drug sus- 
tained in exhausting it with dilated soda. After prolonged 
boiling with acid previous to the treatment with soda, the 
pectinization of the metarabin did not take place when made 
neutral with acid. 
The calcium oxalate was dissolved out by means of five per 
cent. hydrochloric acid. This salt was in the plant in the form 
ae conglomerate raphides, and its reduction to the form of 
