1917] FAUST—RESIN SECRETION 463 
of concentrated hydrochloric acid and evaporated in a porcelain 
dish and the residue washed. If the test is positive, the residue is 
usually blood orange or red. Both the Salkowsky-Hesse and the 
Mach tests were applied to the July and October resin of the 
Balsamorrhiza. The results were negative. 
As previously described, the fatty oil test is made with osmic 
acid. A slide with a thin smear of the resin is inverted over a 
solution of the acid or of the crystals. The fumes of the reagent 
cause fatty substances to blacken. When the osmic anhydride was 
applied to resin of B. sagittata, no positive test was secured, even 
after prolonged application. 
If resin gives an acid reaction to litmus or requires several por- 
tions of one-tenth normal sodium hydrate to neutralize, it is said 
to bea resinic acid. Such acids unite with ammonium hydrate and 
the hydrates of the alkali metals to form unstable resinic esters. 
A great number of these resinic acids are known, although their 
chemical formulae have been worked out only empirically. Certain 
of these acids have been distinguished by the type of ester formed 
with ammonium hydrate. For example, the group to which pimar 
acid belongs builds a very beautiful acid ammonium salt, while the 
group to which abietic acid belongs forms with ammonium hydrate 
a non-crystalline gelatinous emulsion (see TscHiRcH, Joc. cit. 519). 
The resin of B. sagitiata gives a very decided acid test. It com- 
bines with ammonium hydrate, potassium hydrate, and sodium 
hydrate to form resinic esters. Moreover, the ammonium ester is 
an emulsoid. 
The evidence gained from these tests shows that the resin of 
B. sagittata is a member of the resinic acid group, giving an ester 
with ammonium hydrate similar to that of abietic acid, and that 
it has certain relationships to carbohydrates in that it forms a nitro- 
cellulose when reacted upon by nitric acid. 
It was found that by a distillation of the resinic acid, either from 
the gross plant structure or from ether extracted resin, in the presence 
of steam, an entirely new product was formed. The substance had 
a tendency to crystallize upon cooling below 25°, and gave off a 
very characteristic pungent odor, sweetish, but very irritating to 
the mucous membrane. The substance was white, opaque, and 
