76 
SYIIUP OF SAFFRON. 
and Chinchonine, in the leaves of the Chinchona, seems to confirm the views which I 
have expressed as to the production of the alkaloids by a reaction taking place between 
the mother-substance found in the heart-wood and carried up into the leaves by the cir¬ 
culation of the sap, and the ammonia which, according to the observations of De Vry, is 
present in every part of the plant. This mother-substance, forming a yellow solution in 
ether, separates in a flocculent mass by the addition of quinine, and the semicrystallization 
thus induced formed on recrystallization the crystals which I have described and figured 
as similar to those found in situ in the bark itself. The Chinchona-red appears to be 
formed at the same time, and colours the flocculent mass reddish, or rather pink. I find 
in the leaves abundance of kinovic acid, which, separated from adherent chlorophyll, be¬ 
comes perfectly white and similar to that obtained from the bark; they also yield much 
wax and kinate of lime, together with gum. In order to check or confirm the trial of 
the leaves, I also examined with similar results the hollow square stalks (received, with 
other parts of the tree, from Ecuador) just below the insertions of the leaves. This 
gave a similar but rather less minute quantity of quinine, and also of an alkaloid not 
soluble in ether. I conclude that the process of the formation of the quinine goes forward 
still in the bark, though begun in the leaves, and continues to increase with the increasing 
maturity of the bark, undergoing afterwards the deterioration above spoken of. If such 
be at all the process, the alkaloids must be found in the sap itself ; and if the quinine be 
formed in the leaves, in which there are certainly no liber-fibres, it seems to me to dis¬ 
pose of the hypothesis that these latter are in some way essential to the formation of the 
alkaloids. The above discovery also coincides with the presence of quinine (as I have 
shown) very eminently in the cellular tissue of the outer bark, which is evidently, in the 
barks under consideration, gorged to repletion with sap. Reserving any remarks on the 
microscopic peculiarities in these East Indian barks for some further occasion, I remain, 
yours, etc.— John Eliot Howard. (From the Journal of Botany.') 
SYRUP OF SAFFRON* 
This, although one of the least of the Pharmacopoeia preparations, is not un- 
frequently prescribed as a colouring agent, especially in saline mixtures. It is 
therefore highly desirable that an agent so employed should not render such mix¬ 
tures, etc., inelegant, or the object for which it is used is entirely frustrated. 
Syrup of Saffron, when prepared in accordance with the authorized formula, 
in the short space of a week or ten days becomes unfit for use ; and this appears 
to arise from an action of the spirit (aided by the sugar) on the colouring matter 
(polychroite) of the saffron. A dirty-looking deposit is formed, which, when 
placed under the microscope, is seen to consist of small crystalline tufts, of a dark- 
orange or reddish colour; whilst the bulk of the syrup is thus rendered much 
lighter, and in a longer period almost colourless. The deposit is not redissolved 
by dilution with water, and it is to this fact that its inelegance as a colouring 
agent is due ; if strained (when diluted) the colour is nearly lost, and if not 
strained it is considerably less than if newly prepared syrup were used. That 
the sugar assists in causing the deposition of the colouring matter appears evi¬ 
dent, since an infusion of saffron, to which a proportionate quantity of spirit has 
been added, does not yield a deposit, when kept for a much longer period than 
that above mentioned ; still in this the spirit exerts a prejudicial influence on the 
colouring matter. 
In preparing the syrup I tried the addition of glycerine instead of spirit, but 
this, after being kept under the most unfavourable circumstances for six or seven 
weeks, became opalescent. I find, however, that if the syrup is prepared accord¬ 
ing to the directions given in the Pharmacopoeia, without the addition of any pre¬ 
servative agent , it is an elegant and stable preparation. 
Charles Symes. 
Leamington , June 17, 1863. 
* Vide Pharm. Journ. vol. vi. p. 72. 
