LIGNUM H.EMATOXYLI. 215 



in cold water or in ether. It has a pei-sistent sweet taste like liquorice. 

 The crystals of hsematoxylin acquire a red colour by the action of sun- 

 light, as likewise their aqueous solution. They are decomposed by 

 ozone but not by pure and dry oxygen. In presence of alkalis, 

 hsematoxylin exposed to the air quickly yields dark purplish violet 

 solutions, which soon acquire a yellowish or dingy brownish colour ; 

 hence in analytical chemistry hsematoxylin is used as a test for 

 alkalis. 



By the combined action of ammonia and oxygen, dark violet 

 crystalline scales of Hcsmatein, C'^H^'O' + 3 OH^, are produced.^ They 

 show a fine green hue, which is also very commonly observable on 

 the surface of the logwood chips of commerce. Hsematein may again 

 be transformed into hsematoxylin by means of hydrogen or of sulphurous 

 acid. 



Hsematoxylin separates protoxide of copper from an alkaline solu- 

 tion of the tartrate, and deviates the ray of polarized light to the right 

 hand. It is not decomposed by concentrated hydrochloric acid ; by 

 melting hsematoxylin with potash, pyrogallol (pyrogallic acid, C^H^O^) 

 is obtained. Alum and the salts of lead throw down precipitates from 

 solutions of hsematoxylin, the latter being of a bluish-black colour. 

 Logwood affords upon incineration 3'3 per cent, of ash. 



The colouring matter being abundantly soluble in boiling water, an 

 Extract of Logiuood is also prepared on a large scale. It occurs in 

 commerce in the form of a blackish brittle mass, taking the form of the 

 wooden chest into which it is put while soft. The extract shares the 

 chemical properties of hsematoxylin and hsemateiin : whether it also 

 contains gum requires investigation. 



Production and Commerce — The felling and shipping of logwood 

 in Central America have been described by Morelet,^ who states that in 

 the woods of Tabasco and Yucatan the trade is carried on in the most 

 irrational and reckless manner. By advancing money to the natives, or 

 by furnishing them with spirits, arms, or tools, the proprietoi-s of the 

 woods engage them to fell a number of trees in proportion to their debts. 

 This is done in the dry season, the rainy period being taken for the 

 shipment of the logs, which are conveyed chiefly to the island of Carmen 

 in the Laguna de Terminos in South-western Yucatan, and to Frontera 

 on the mouths of the Tabasco river, at which places European ships 

 receive cargoes of the wood. 



In 1877 the export of Laguna de Terminos amounted to 528,605 

 quintals (one quintal = 46 kilogrammes), that from Port-au-Prince, 

 Hayti, in 1872, nearly to 90,000 tons. 



Four sorts of logwood are found in the London market, namely Cam- 

 jjeachy, quoted^ at £8 10s. to £9 10s. per ton; Honduras, £Q 10s. 

 to £6 15s.; *S'^. Domingo, £5 15s. to £6 ; Jamaica, £5 2s. 6d. to £5 10s. 

 The imports into the United Kingdom were valued in 1872 at £233,035. 

 The quantities imported during that and the previous three years were 

 as follows : — 



1869 1870 1871 1872 



50,458 tons. 62,187 tons. 39,346 tons. 46,039 tons. 



^Benedikt, in 1S75, assigned them the 2 Voyage dans VAmeriqm cent rale, tile 



formula C^H^aO'SN + 9 OH^. de Cuba el U Yucatan, Paris, 1857. 



» Public Ledger, 28 Feb. 1874. 



