134 PLANT AND ORGANIC CHEMISTRY 



the bark was solid at the ordinary temperature; from the 

 wood it was of a less solid consistency; while the yellow base 

 of the leaf contained an oil quite soft, and in the green leaf 

 the oil was almost fluid. 



Extract (2) contained an oil of low melting-point. It melted 

 at 36 C. An alcoholic solution was fractionally precipitated 

 with magnesium acetate, and three members of the fatty acid 

 series were isolated. The quantities obtained were small, and 

 it was impossible to do more than to take the melting-point 

 of two of the purified crystalline residues. They melted at 

 85 C. and at 60 C., respectively. It is a well-known fact 

 that a mixture of fat acids in certain proportions has a lower 

 melting-point than those of its constituents. 



Alkaloids and volatile-alkaloids were not detected in the 

 petroleum spirit extracts. 



ETHER EXTRACTS 



Extract (i), Bark of the Root. 



The residual powder from the petroleum spirit extraction 

 was dried until thoroughly freed from petroleum spirit. It 

 was then macerated with Squibb' s stronger ether in the appa- 

 ratus already described. The ethereal extract was filtered from 

 the powder. It was a clear crimson-colored liquid, tinted by 

 some red coloring matter dissolved ; and acid in reaction. The 

 extract was slowly evaporated at the ordinary temperature; 

 white needle-shaped crystals were seen as the liquid concen- 

 trated. The ethereal residue was of a resinous character. It 

 was ruby-colored, transparent, and of a softer consistency 

 than ordinary resin. Microscopically, the residue was iden- 

 tified as a resin by its color reaction with Hanstein's aniline 

 violet solution. 1 The ethereal residue was treated with petro- 

 leum spirit to remove any traces of fat that may have been 

 extracted with it. It was heated in a small tube ; at 50 C. it 

 experienced a slight change, and melted at 70 C. For a de- 

 termination of the total solids, a definite volume of the ethereal 

 extract was evaporated, dried, and weighed. 



1 Botanical Micro-Chemistry, Poulsen-Trelease, Boston, 1884, p. 59. 



