BARK OF SARACA INDICA 



173 



presenpe of a larger proportion of the coloring-matter than 

 in the logwood bark. These results should encourage inves- 

 tigators to secure specimens of the wood of the Saraca, in 

 order to determine if it contains the coloring principle, and 

 should this be ascertained affirmatively, whether it exists in 

 sufficiently large quantities to warrant its introduction as a 

 new source of this commercial product. 



To exhibit the colors produced by alkalies upon the dye 

 from logwood bark and Saraca Indica bark, the powdered 

 material was macerated over the water-bath with distilled or 

 filtered river water acidulated with dilute sulphuric acid (i 

 part to 50), the extract was filtered and the process repeated 

 until no more color was removed. This extract was treated 

 directly with the reagents. Excess of reagents produced darker 

 tints, and after a time the solutions were decolorized. 



Reagents. 



Sodium Carbonate 

 Sodium Hydrate 

 Potassium Hydrate 

 Ammonia 



Saraca Indica. 



Hcematoxylon Campechianum. 

 Acidified Extract. 



Bark. 



Pale purple to reddish violet solution 

 Blue violet ppt. and solution 

 Red-colored solution 

 Pinkish-purple solution 



Among other constituents contained in the Saraca bark, 

 catechin and saponin were determined. Their presence along 

 with haematoxylin is significant as showing the chemical 

 position of Saraca in relation to the genera Acacia and Hcema- 

 toxylon, catechin and saponin being found, as is well known, 

 in Acacia. The evolutionary position of the order Legumi- 

 nosae, to which these genera belong, was pointed out in a 

 fdrmer paper, 1 and it was stated that all orders containing 

 saponin came under the middle division of M. HeckePs bo- 

 tanical scheme, 2 or multiplicity of floral elements. The facts 



1 " Certain Chemical Constituents of Plants considered in Relation to their 

 Morphology and Evolution," by H. C. De S. Abbott. Botanical Gazette, vol. 

 xi, 1886, p. 270. 



2 "Les Planteset laTheorie de PE volution," Revue Scientifique, 13 Mars, 

 1886. 



