94 - Proceedings of the Royal Society. 
former are said to be gathered before being fully ripe, and are care- 
fully preserved; the latter have remained much longer on the branches, 
and are brown and shrivelled. Kane has examined both varieties, 
and finds in the former a substance which he names Chrysorham- 
nine, soluble in alcohol and ether, and crystallizing from the latter 
in minute silky needles of a brilliant yellow colour. This substance 
is replaced in the ripe berry by another, which he names Xanthor- 
hamnine, of a much less beautiful yellow, and not crystallizable ; 
this change is effected also by boiling the chrysorhamnine for a few 
minutes with water. Xanthorhamnine is easily soluble in alcohol 
and water, but quite insoluble in ether. 
The Persian berries which the author examined yielded to ether no 
chrysorhamnine, but with alcohol they gave a considerable quantity of 
a pale yellow substance in fine crystals, which was believed to be Kane’s 
xanthorhamnine, although that chemist did not obtain it crystalline. 
It is prepared by digesting the coarsely-ground berries for a short 
time with boiling methylated spirit, filtering and expressing the re- 
sidue. The fluid is left for several days, to deposit a dark-coloured 
resin, and then poured off and set aside. In about ten days, it is 
converted into a yellow semi-solid mass. This is pressed and re- 
crystallized several times from alcohol ; when nearly pure, the crys- 
tals appear as the solution cools. 
Xanthorhamnine appears in tufts of dense silky needles, of a pale 
yellow colour, and nearly tasteless. Readily soluble in cold and 
warm water. It dissolves also in alcohol, and very readily when hot. 
It is quite insoluble even in boiling ether. The analysis of three 
separate preparations, dried at 212°, gave results somewhat differ- 
ent from Kane’s ; and, guided by the products of decomposition de- 
tailed in the paper, the author proposes for the substance the for- 
mula C 46 H 28 0 28 , which agrees with his experiments, as shown by 
the subjoined comparison — 
Carbon "52* 43 
52-24 
51*82 
51 -9 f 
52-27 
C 46 
276 
Hydrogen 5' 8 5 
5-58 
5-74 
5-95 
5-30 
H 28 
28 
Oxygen 
... 
42-43 
^28 
224 
100-00 
528 
The air-dried substance contains 10 
atoms more water, 
giving 
the 
formula H 28 0 28 , 10 HO. 
