CONIFERJiJ. 37 i 



H 



benzoic acid, monomethylamine and oxalic acid. I^oejj/tedruie, 

 melting point 114^0., is obtained by beating epbedrine, melting 

 point 30°C., with bydrocbloric acid in a closed tube to 180°C. 

 The constitution of epbcdrine is C^H^CH^ CH (NHCH^) 

 CH^OH, and that of isoephedrine is C^H^CH^C (OH) (NH 



CH^) CH^. 



The hydrochlorate of ephedrine forms acicular crystals which 



are freely soluble in water. Mr. J. G. Prebble (1889) found 

 the twigs of -E. vulgaris to contain 3 per cent, of a tannin, 

 giving a whitish precipitate with gelatine and acetate of lead, 

 and a greenish precipitate with acetate of iron. 



CONIFERiE. 



JUNIPERUS COMMUNIS, TAmu 



"Pig^— Richard. Conif. 33, /. 5; Eeichb. Ic. Fl Germ., 

 /. 535, Juniper {Eng,)^ Genevrier {Fr.). 



Hab. — Western Himalaya, Persia. The fruit. 

 Vernacular. — Hab-el-a'ra'r {Lid. Bazars). 



History, Uses, &C. — A'ra'r (^^) is a Persian word; 



the author of the Burhan notices a popular beKef that the 

 Juniper is the enemy of the Date tree, and that the two will 

 not grow together in the same place. Abu Hanifeh states on 

 the authority of an Arab of the people 'of the Sarah, who are 

 possessors of the a'ra'r^ that it is the same as ^ the Abhal (the 

 latter name is applied in modern Arabic to the Juniper and 

 Savine), He adds that he knew it in his own' country, and 

 afterwards saw it in the province of Kazween, cut for firewood 

 from the mountains, in the neighbourhood of Ed-Deylem, and 

 that the fruit is eaten when ripe. J. communis is a native of 

 Greece, and must therefore have been known to the ancient 

 Greeksj but there is much difficulty in identifying the two 

 species of 'ayKcvBls mentioned by Dioscorides. The fruit of some 



