CABYOPHYLLIC ACID. 



CABTOPHTU.U8 AROMATICUS. 



shoulders by fibuhc, and u adorned with earrings, necklace*, and 

 bracelet*. On her head she carries a medium, which originally sup- 

 ported part of the entablature of a portico. It wai found with three 

 similar figures in 1766, on the site of a temple, supposed from the 



[Caryatid figure from the Pandrosion, now in tho Britih Musenm.] 



CARYOPHYLLIC ACID, />/.-,.;. a.-;,! (C M H,,OJ. The volatile 

 rasnntiiil oil* of cloven, pimento, and cinnamon leaf, are chiefly com- 

 posed of a hydrocarbon uomeric with oil of turpentine, and an oxy- 

 genated oily body, caryophyllic a 



When either of these oil* in mixed with caustic potash or soda and 

 mibmitted to distillation, the hydrocarbon is volatilised and the caryo- 

 phyllic acid remain* in combination with the alkali, forming a Imty- 

 raceous crystalline mass. This residue distilled with sulphuric acid, 

 yields the caryophyllic acid in a nearly pure state. 



Caryophyllic acid in a colourless oily liquid, in taste and smell much 

 resembling oil of cloves. It gives an acid reaction with litmus paper. 

 Its specific gravity is ro"9 ; boiling point, 436 Fahr. ; vapour density, 

 64. It rapidly absorbs oxygen from the air, becoming resinified. 

 When required quite pure it must be redistilled in an atmosphere of 

 carbonic acid. 



iphyllic acid forms salts with most of the bases. Brought into 

 contact with caustic potash, soda, ammonia, baryta, strontia, or limr. 

 it unites to form crystalline compounds containing an equivalent of 

 basic metal in the place of an equivalent of hydrogen. The soluble 

 oryophyllates give, with solution of acetate of lead, a light yellow 

 precipitate ; with sulphate of copper, light-blue ; with protosulphate 

 of iron, lilac; and with persulphate of iron, red changing to violet 

 and blue. 



Some interesting derivatives of caryophyllic or eugenic acid have 

 been obtained by M. Cahours, by reaction with the chlorine compounds 

 of organic acid radicals. The following neutral substances have been 

 thus obtained, hydrochloric acid being produced at the same time : 



' 



.-:.>: 



C,.H,,0. 

 C a .H,.0. 

 C4.H..O. 



CARYOPHYLLIN (C^..O,). A solid, white crystalline substance 

 found in clove... It crystallises from a strong alcoholic infusion, or 

 may be precipitated by the addition of water to an ethereal infusion 

 Resin, with which it is generally contaminated, may be removed by 



occurrence of a figure of Bacchus to have been dedicated to that deity, 

 near the Via Appia, a few miles south-east from Rome ; it was pur- 

 chased by Mr. Townley, with the rest of whose collection it van bought 

 by the Government in 1808. 



[Caryatid, from the Townlejr Collection, now in the British Mtucom.] 



boiling with caustic soda or ammonia. It lias the appearance of silky 

 needles, which, if pure, sublime at a high temperature without decom- 

 position. Caryophyllin is freely soluble in hot alcohol or ether, from 

 which solution the greater part crystallises out on cooling. li i.-. 

 insoluble in water. Caustic alkalies and strong acids dissolve without 

 decomposing it. With concentrated sulphuric acid it gives a n-, 

 tion which decomposes when boiled. Nitric acid converts it 

 resinous substance. 



CARYOPHYLLUS AROMATICUS, the clove-tree (in Botnay), is 

 an evergreen small tree, belonging to the natural order Myrtana, with 

 opposite, ovate-lanceolate, shining, leathery, stalked leaves, and a short 

 terminal cluster of flowers. The flower-stalks are green ; the calyx 

 consists of a brownish-red cylindrical tube, terminated by four ovate 

 teeth ; there are four small greenish concave petals, and a large cluster 

 of yellow stamens. The fruit is an oblong one-seeded purple-berry, 

 crowned by the persistent teeth of the calyx. All the parts are, as in 

 other true myrtaceous plants, covered with dots containing the essen- 

 tin! oil peculiar to the species. The dove is a native of the Moluccas, 

 whence it has been carried to all the other tropical parts of the >MH M. 

 Captain Owen's people found it apparently wild even upon Fernando 

 Po, whither it had been probably transported by the Portuguese. Tin- 

 cloves of the spice shops are the flower-buds of this plant, gathered 

 before they open, and dried in the sun ; the round ball at their ends 

 is the corolla inclosing the stamens ; the quadrangular part below is 

 the tube of the calyx ; and the four teeth are the divisions of the calyx. 

 The name dove is a corruption of the French word rlou, a nail, a name 

 that has been suggested by the resemblance of the dried clovv to such 

 a thing. The aromatic stimulating effects of cloves are well known. 

 For a good account of their introduction to Europe, consumption, &c., 

 see ' Botanical Magazine,' vol. liv. t. 2750. By some modern botanists, 

 tlii' t'l'ii"" <'ncv"/'/iy//.'.- m ndoecd Sugaiia, 



Tho Curi/H/JiyHiu aromatic** grows naturally in New Guinea and the 

 Molucca islands, from which last exclusively Europe was supplied for a 

 long time. About 1769, the French introduced it into the Isle of 

 France, of Bourbon, and the Sechelles, and in 1771 into Guiana. 

 In 1798, tho cultivation of. this tree was extended to Sumatra, and 



