3 
On the Fruits and Seeds of Rhamnus . 
In the second case the colouring matter was a brilliant 
golden yellow, whereas the former gave but a poor lemon- 
yellow dye. 
The outer pericarps were next digested in water at 45°C. 
for about one hour, and the clear yellow filtered liquor was 
placed aside with a few ‘kernels’ (seeds) added; in thirty 
minutes or so a light yellow powder fell to the bottom, C 0 2 
being given off meanwhile. 
‘ Kernels’ were then split up into four parts, and these parts 
kept separate. (1) The shell or husk of the ‘ kernel’ (i. e. the 
endocarp) ; (2) A greyish white matter (i. e. endosperm) ; 
(3) the infolded rims of the seed proper; (4) a yellow sub- 
stance — the embryo — inside the seed. 
To clear decoctions of the outer pericarps Mr. Lightfoot 
then added the different parts of the dissected kernels, and 
found that in every case the yellow powder fell after a time, 
but more quickly where the rims of the seed were added. 
The action was destroyed by boiling. 
The obvious explanation of the above experiments is that 
a ferment, localised in the ‘kernels’ (seeds), acts on the yellow 
substance dissolved from the pericarps. 
Having obtained some fruits of Rhamnns infect or ius from 
Kew, I set to work to investigate the matter independently. 
I found that if the whole fruits are steeped in water, and 
kept at 35°C., a quantity of bright yellow substance collects 
around the swollen mass, and if squeezed out gradually forms 
a slight precipitate. On breaking these steeped fruits there 
is abundance of glairy yellow substance inside, not easily 
washed away. If the fruits are broken up firsts however, a 
copious precipitate soon falls ; this is yellow, and finely 
crystalline, and is evidently the rhamnin of the chemists 1 . 
The filtered liquor after this experiment reduces Fehling’s 
solution, and contains relatively large quantities of glucose. 
I then repeated the experiments with the various parts of 
1 Husemann, ‘ Pflanzen-stoffe,’ vol. ii. 1884, p. 889, where the chemical litera- 
ture is quoted. 
