GALL^ HALEPENSES. 595 



(1873) depends upon the amount of permanganate of potassium decom- 

 posable by the extract of a given weight of oak bark. Neubauer found 

 in the bark of young stems, as grown for tanning purposes, from 7 to 

 10 per cent, of querci-tannic acid, soluble in cold water. 



Braconnot (1849) extracted from the seeds of the oaks under notice 

 a crystallized sugar, which was shown in 1851 by Dessaignes to be a 

 peculiar substance, which he termed Quercite. Prunier proved (1877- 

 1878) that it agrees with the formula O'BJ(0B)^ + 4 OH^, and is 

 closely allied to kinic acid, C*5H'(0H)^C00H (see page 363). Quercite 

 gives off water at 100°, melts at 225° C, and again losing water yields 

 a crystallized anhydride. In the oak bark extremely small quantities 

 of querite appear also to be present, as pointed out by Johanson. 



A colourless, crystallizable, bitter substance, soluble in water, but 

 not in absolute alcohol or ether, was extracted from oak bark in 1843 

 by Gerber, and named Qiiercin. It requires further examination: 

 Eckert (1864) could not detect its existence in young oak bark. 



Uses — Occasionally employed as an astringent, chiefly for external 

 application. 



GALL^ HALEPENSES. 



Oallce Turoicce; Galls, Nutgalh, Oak Galls, Ale2ypo or Turkey Galls; 

 F. Noix de Galle, Galle cTAlep; G. Levantische oder Aleppische 

 Gallen, Galldpfel. 



Botanical Origin — Quercus Ivmtanica Webb, var. infectoria (Q. 

 infedona Oliv.),^ a shrub or rarely a tree, found in Greece, Asia Minor, 

 Cyprus and Syria. It is probable that other varieties of this oak, as 

 well as allied species, contribute to furnish the Aleppo galls of commerce. 



History — Oak galls are named by Theophrastus, and were well 

 known to other ancient writers. Alexander Trallianus prescribed them 

 as a remedy in diarrhoea." 



The earliest accurate descriptions and figures of the oak and the 

 insect producing the galls are due to Olivier.^ Pliny ^ mentions the 

 interesting fact that paper saturated with an infusion of gaUs may be 

 used as a test for discovering sulphate of iron, when added as an 

 adulteration to the more costly verdigris: this, according to Kopp, is 

 the earliest instance of the scientific application of a chemical reaction.' 

 For tanning and dyeing, galls have been used from the earliest times, 

 duiing the middle ages however they were not precisely an article of 

 great importance, being then, no doubt, for a large part replaced by 

 sumach. 



Nutgalls have long been an object of commerce between Western 

 Asia and China. Barbosa in his Description of the East Indies'^ written 

 in 1514 calls them Magican,~ and says they are brought from the Levant 



1 De Candolle, Prodromus, xvi. sect. 2. ° Geschichte der Chemie, ii. (1844) 51. 

 fasc. i. 17. * Published by the Hakluyt Society, 



2 Puschmann's edition, quoted in the Lond. 1866. 191. 



Appendix, i. 237. ' Nearly the same name is still used in 



' Voyage dans V Empire Othoman, ii. the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalim and Canarese 



(1801), pi. 14r-15. languages. 

 * Lib. 34. c. 26. 



