300 EUPHORBIAGE^. 



an orange-coloured precipitate. By treating Kamdla with "boil- 

 ing alcoholj and cooling, amorphous floccules of the composition 

 (^^ojj.UQi, ^j.^ obtained, which are sparingly soluble in cold 

 alcohol and ether, and are not precipitated by lead or silver 

 salts. [National Disjpematory.) 



Messrs. A. G.Perkin and W. H. Perkin, Junr.(^mc;//^, 1886), 

 have recently separated from Kamala a substance which they 

 name Mallotoxin, C'^H^^O^ or C'^II^^^'O^ It was obtained 

 by shaking powdered Kamala with bisulphide of carbon, 

 evaporating the solution, and treating the residue with Just 

 enough bisulphide of carbon to remove the resinous impurities. 

 It was finally purified by crystallization from benzine or 

 toluene. It formed small flesh-coloured needles, soluble in 

 alkalies, alcohol and acetic acid, but insoluble in water. It 

 appears to be identical with the rottlerin of Anderson, Later 

 still, L. Jarvein (5^>\, xx., 182) obtained a yellow crystalline 

 substance from Kamdla, melting at 200"^, to which he gave the 

 same name and formula as Anderson's rottlerin. 



The bark of this tree is astringent, and Professor Hummel 

 found it to contain 6*5 per cent, of tannin. 



Carefully selected, Kamala, according to P. Siedler, will not 

 contain more than 1"5 per cent, of ash, whilst the commercial 

 article yields from 21-8 to 49^1 per cent. By sifting, fractions 

 may be obtained containing as low as 5'2 and as high as 25 per 

 cent. High percentage of mineral matter maybe due to careless 

 collection, or to adulteration ; in the latter case^ the ash may 

 range from 50 to 80 per cent. The percentage of ash has notably 

 increased of late, and by sifting it is often impossible to get the 

 drug containing less than 14 per cent, of ash. Of 45 samples 

 examined by the author, only three contained less than 6 per 

 cent. {Phann. Zeitg., 1891, 162.) 



Commerce.—Kvaniln is collected in the N.-W. Provinces, the 

 Coucun and Madras, and is distinguished by the collectors as of 

 two qualities, Rapila and Kapili ; the latter is the best, and is 

 obtained by shaking the fruit only in a basket to separate the 



glands. Kapila consists of the glands and other parts of the 



