182 FirERACEM, 



tlie coii.^itutlou of tlie drag itself, as ^vell as in tli^ iiitcrubili tj 

 of the- oil, and tke fact that its prevailing constitueiats do. 

 not begin to boil below 264*^ C Cnbcb oil wus^ shown by 

 OglialoYO* to be a mixture of a tarpenc boiling at 1.5&° to 

 ]63'^, \vbii:*h \^ present to a very small amount, and two oils 

 of the formula V/'W% boiling at 26:i° to 265° C, One of 



the latter deviates-- the plane of pohirization strongly to the 

 left, and yields- a erystalline compound, G^'IV^CV, nielting 

 at 116^0. The other hydrocarbon is less Icovogyrate, and 

 does not combine with IICl. [JDeibt. Cliem. Gcs^ Ber., viii., 

 1357.) Cnbcb oil mixes with glacial acetic acid in all propor- 

 tions ; iodine gives a violet coloration without perceptible 

 reaction } with nitric acid it becomes opaque, and on heating a 

 pale red tint is afforded. {Brannf.) One ])^vt of oil,, diluted 

 with about 20 parts of bisulphide of carbon, assumes at first a 

 greenish, and afterwards a blue coloration, if one drop of a 

 mixture of cqxsal weights of concentrated sulphiuuc and nitric 

 acids Is shxiken with the solution. The oil distilled from old 

 cubcbs, on cooling after a time, is stated to deposit large, trans- 

 parent, inodorous octohedra of aunphor of ciileds^ C^*^TI^'' + 20H , 

 belonging to the rhombic system, which melt at 60^9 ^^^^^ 

 subhme at l4b^. But the authors of rharmacographia failed 

 to obtain ciyi^tals after keeping the oil (;f fresh cubobs for two 

 years in couiact with water, to which a little nitric acid had 

 been added* 



Another constituent of cubcbs is CuhebtU'. crvstals of which 

 may sometimes be seen in the pericarp cA^en with a common lens. 

 It was discovered by Soubeiran and Cupitaine in 1 839 ■ it is an 

 inodorous substance, crystallizing in small needles or scales, 

 melting at 125^, havin^; a bitter taste in alcoholic solntion. I^ 



dissolves freely in boiling alcohol, but is mostly dej)osited tipon 

 cooling; it requires 30 parts of cold ether for solution, and is also 

 abundantly soluble in chloroform, riiickiger and HanburV 

 found this solution to be slightly Ijxivogyre, and to turn red on 

 addition of concentrated sulphuric acid. If the solution of 

 cubebla in chloroform is shaken with phosi^horic anhydride, 

 it turns blnr^ and gradually becomes red on absorption of 



