ath an even quantity of 90 per cent. Sar ay wives a ae sae 
upon further addition of alcohol becomes turbid. This has been p 
be miscible in any proportion of alcohol. Such complaints are met with to 
our opinion early of this year. The properties were as follows: diso 1.158, sap. Vv 
‘solidification a considerable difference was noticeable between this cinnamein and the 
or at most very little above zero (we observed between -+- 1.5 and —8°), the cinnamein 
to contain chlorine from which. it may be concluded with certainty that it was not a 
natural product, but that it contained artificial benzyl benzoate containing chlorine. 
duced in the following manner. We saponified the cinnamein, isolated the acids bou 
potassium permanganate titrated back with seminormal oxalic acid at 70°. ‘The quantity 
1580.3 g. of permanganate correspond with 444,18 g. cinnamic acid, consequently i 
pharmaceutical press?) as well as by ourselves*) as complaints are 1 
by chemists as to indifferent solubility of the drug. It seems to be thought that it 
To shew how important solubility on the lines pointed out above really i is, i 
clear by the examination of a sample on which we were called upon to pl 
cinnamein content 62.4 per cent., ester v. of cinnamein 251. 0; 1g. was soluble 
mixture consisting of 3 g. chloralhydrate in 2 g. of water, also soluble in iene 
of 90 per cent. alcohol, and the solution, further diluted, also remained clear. 
To judge from above figures the balsam answered all the requirements of a 
article and all the tests of the German Pharmacopeeia. The only suspicious point 
its comparatively weak odour and above all the fact that the alcoholic solution remain 
clear even when further diluted. It was just this deviation from the normal ‘whi 
induced us to examine the sample more closely, when it was found that the balsa ; 
was either heavily adulterated, or else that it was an artificial product altogether. Kh 
The verdict was based on the composition of the cinnamein. In the process 
same body obtained from pure Peru balsam. Whereas the latter solidified below. zero, 
of the sample under examination had a solidification point of + 15°. If it is con- 
sidered that benzyl benzoate solidifies at about + 18°, it follows that the cinnamein of : 
the Peru balsam in question consisted almost exclusively of benzyl benzoate, a result © 
which is contrary to experience on this matter. But besides, this cinnamein was. found 
A further proof of the almost complete absence of cinnamic acid ester was pi 
by the alkali and determined the cinnamic acid content of the acid mixture, after Lieb 
mann’s method‘) as follows: About 0.2 g. of the acid mixture to be examined w e 
dissolved in 10 cc. of 5 per cent. soda lye, diluted with 50 cc. of seminormal potas 
permanganate solution and allowed to stand in a closed flask for two hours, wi 
repeated shaking. Thereupon about 100 cc. of water were added, the whole filtered a 
washed again. The filtrate was acidulated with dilute sulphuric acid and ‘the excess 
of cinnamic acid may be calculated from the amount of bernangails comet: 
3CsHs COOK + 3K.CO, : KHICO, 1 2COs 4H,0. de 10Mn0y. - 
seminormal easier a solution = 0. 0044418 g. of cinnamic acid, tae Pes es 
1) H.Walbaum, Journ. f. prakt. Chem. Il. 78 (1906), 488. — Report April ane 94. — 2) Phar 
44 (1903), 241. — Pharm. Ztg. 48 (1903), 363, 754. — *) Report October 1909, 139. — 4) Se 
d. Pharm. 287 (1899), 280. mT ee 
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