UV^ PASS^. 159 



This chemist has likewise found in the berries of Rhamnus, though 

 not with certainty in those of R. cathartica, a neutral substance isomeric 

 with rhamnine, to which he has given the name of Rhamnegiiie. Unlike 

 rhamnine it is very soluble in cold water, but in all other respects it 

 agrees with that body in chemical and physical properties. The two 

 substances have the same taste, almost the same tint, the same crystal- 

 line form, and lastly they give rise to the same reactions with chemical 

 agents. 



The conclusions of Lefort have been contested by Stein (1868) and 

 by Schiitzenberger (1868), the latter of whom succeeded in decomposing 

 rhamnegine and proving it a glucoside having the formula O"H*^0^ . 

 Its decomposition gives rise to a body named Rhamnetin, C'EL^'O', and 

 a cry stall! zable sugar isomeric with mannite. Schiitzenberger admits 

 that the berries contain an isomeric modification of rhamnegine ; but in 

 addition another colouring matter insoluble in water, which appears to 

 be the Rhamnine of Lefort, but to which he assigns a different formula, 

 namely, C^^H-O^". This is also a glucoside capable of being split into 

 rhamnetin and a sugar. There are thus, according to Schiitzenberger, 

 two forms of rhamnegine which may be distinguished as a and /3, and 

 there is the substance insoluble in water, named by Lefort Rhamnine. 



The question of the purgative principles of buckthorn, it will be 

 observed, has not been touched by all these researches. 



Uses — From the juice of the berries is prepared a syrup having 

 strongly purgative properties, much more used as a medicine for animals 

 than for man. The pigment Sap Green is also made from the juice. 



AMPELIDE^. 



XJ V JE PASS^. 



PassulcB majores ; Raisins ; F. Raisins ; G. Rosinen. 



Botanical Origin — Vitis vinifera L., the Common Grape-vine. It 

 appears to be indigenous to the Caucasian provinces of Russia, that is 

 to say, to the country lying between the eastern end of the Black Sea 

 and the south-western shores of the Caspian ; extending thence south- 

 ward into Armenia. Under innumerable varieties, it is cultivated in 

 most of the warmer and drier countries of the temperate regions of both 

 the northern and southern hemispheres. Humboldt defines the area of 

 the profitable culture of the vine as a zone lying between 36** and 40* 

 of noi-th latitude. 



History — The vine is among the oldest of cultivated plants, and is 

 mentioned in the earliest Mosaic writings. Dried gi-apes as distin- 

 guished from fresh were used by the ancient Hebrews, and in the 

 Vulgate are translated Uvce passce} During the middle ages, raisins 

 were an article of luxury imported into England from Spain. 



Description — The ovaiy of Vitis vinifera is 2-celled with 2 ovules 

 in each cell ; it developes into a succulent, pedicellate berry of spherical 



' Numbers vi. 3 ; 1 Sam. xxv. 18, xxx. 12 ; 2 Sam. xvi. 1 ; 1 Chron. xii. 40. 



