816 INDIAN^ MEDICINAL PLANTS. 



which they thought would prove to be the Asclepione of List (Gmelin's Handb. 

 XVII., 368), but subsequently (1885), upon Warden continuing the investiga- 

 tion of the drug in the Chemical Laboratory of the Gesundheits Amt, Berlin, 

 he found the substance supposed to be asclepione to have a composition cor- 

 responding with the formula C 17 H 28 0, whereas List's asclepione is represented 

 by the formula C 2 °H 3 * O*. 



The white cauliflower masses of crystals obtained in Berlin were found to 

 agree closely, as regards their melting point and behaviour with solvents, 

 with a substance called Alban obtained by Payen from gutta-percha (Jahres- 

 bericht uber die Fortsehder Chimie, 1852, p. 643), they were accordingly 

 named Madar-alban. A yellow resin associated with maclar-alban in the drug 

 was found to agree, in behaviour with reagents, with the Fluavil found by 

 Payen in gutta-percha, but as regards chemical composition the madar-alban 

 and madar- fluavil differed from the alban and fluavil of gutta-percha. Dr. 

 Warden also separated from the drug a yellow bitter resin, which is probably 

 the active principle, and Caoutchouc. 



He found the percentage of the various principles (the results being cal- 

 culated on the bark containing 8'079 per cent, of water) to be— 



Madar-alban 0'610 



Madar-fluavil 2-471 



Black acid resin. 0-997 



Caoutchouc free from M.-alban and M.-fluavil 0*855 



Yellow bitter resin (active principle) 0*093 



The fact that the sap of the Madar plant contains in addition to Caoutchouc 

 two principles analogous to the alban and fluavil of gutta-percha is a point of 

 some interest, as madar guttapercha has been recommended as a substitute 

 for the commercial article. For full particulars of the chemical examination, 

 see Pharm Journ., Aug. 22nd, 1885. 



Drs. E. G. Hill and A. P. Sarkar of Muir College, Allahabad, 

 have analysed the root-bark and have published the results in 

 the Journal Chemical Society {T. 1915 pp. 1437-1442), of which 

 the following is a summary :— 



FOUR kilos, of the root bark broken up and extd. with boiling 

 98% ale. for 3 hrs., gave 78 g, oil, 90 g. white solid (A) which sepd. 

 partly on cooling and partly on concn,, and a residue which, when extd. 

 with Et 2 and digested with H 2 0, gave 330.5 g. gutta-percha-like resi- 

 due and a small amt. of a yellow bitter principle. A long series of 

 fractional crystns. from ale. of (A), identical with Warden and Waddel's 

 " madaralban" Pharm J. 1885, 165), gave, as the less sol. portion, akundarol 

 isovalerate (B), C 33 H 61 OC0 2 C 4 H 9 , needles, m. 210°, [a]£ 119° in Et 2 0, and as the 

 more sol., mudarol isovalerate (C), C 30 H 97 OCO 2 C 4 H a , nodules, m. 140°, [a] D 

 128° in Et 2 0. Sapon. of (B) gave akundarol (D), C 38 H 62 2 , needles, m. 215° 



