264 
PTEROCARPUS SANTALINUS. 
smooth, compressed pod, the lower edge keeUshaped, the upper 
falcated, and contains a round compressed seed. 
The wood of this tree is imported in the form of billets, which are 
very heavy, and sink in water ; but it is usually met with in the 
shops in the form of a gross powder, which is said to be frequently 
adulterated with other red woods, of an inferior quality. 
Sensible and Chemical Properties, &c. Sanders wood is 
of a dark blackish red externally, internally of a deep bright red, 
and the more florid the colour, the more it is esteemed ; it becomes 
darker by exposure to the atmosphere ; it is very hard, and bears a 
fine polish; when fresh cut, it manifests a somewhat fragrant and 
aromatic odour, but has little or no taste. It yields its colouring 
matter both to alcohol and ether ; to water it imparts only a very 
slight yellow tinge ; to some of the volatile oils, particularly that of 
lavender, it also imparts its colouring matter, but not to any of the 
expressed oils ; to oil of turpentine it imparts a yellowish tinge only. 
M. Pelletier separated the colouring matter, Santalin, which he 
found to have great analogy with the resins. It is insoluble in water ; 
soluble in alcohol, ether, acetic acid, and alkaline solutions; it 
forms beautiful coloured precipitates with many metallic solutions. 
Its acetic solution acts like tannin upon gelatin. It contains no 
azote. 
Red Sanders wood does not appear to possess any medicinal pro- 
perty, and its use only attaches to its colouring property. It forms 
the colouring ingredient in the compound spirit of lavender of the 
London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Pharmacopoeias. 
Ofi". The Wood. 
