8S2 
TIIE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[May 6,1871. 
For trade purposes valerianic acid is generally 
manufactured by the oxidation of amylic alcohol 
(fouscl oil). 
c 5 h„ho + o 2 = c 5 h 10 o 2 + h 2 o. 
Amylic Alcohol. Valerianic Acid. 
For experimental purposes this acid may be pro¬ 
duced by distilling valerian root with sulphuric acid 
and bichromate of potash. By this means, not only 
the acid naturally present in the plant passes over 
into the receiver, but also that produced during the 
operation by the oxidation of the valerol. 
C,H I0 O + O» = C,H 10 O a . + co 2 . 
Valerol. Valerianic Acid. 
Valerianic acid stands in exactly the same relation 
»/ 
to amylic alcohol that acetic acid does to etliylic 
alcohol (C 2 H 5 HO), thus,— 
Oil of chamomile, like that of anise, is a com¬ 
pound of a peculiar substance, with a hydrocarbon 
isomeric with oil of turpentine (C 10 PI 16 ). The former 
is termed angelic aldehyde (C 5 H s O). When oil of 
chamomile is heated with dry hydrate of potassium, 
this aldehyd is converted into angelic acid (C 5 H 3 0 2 ), 
identical with that found in the roots of Angelica 
and Sumbul. 
C 5 H s O + KHO = C 5 H 7 K0 2 + H 2 . 
Angelic Angelate of 
Aldehyd. Potassium. 
Should the heat used be too strong, the angelic 
acid is washed and decomposed into propionic and 
acetic acids. 
C 5 H s 0 2 + 2H 2 0 = C 2 H 4 0 2 + C 3 H 6 0 2 + 2H. 
Angelic Acetic Propionic 
Acid. Acid. Acid. 
G s H„no + o 2 = c 5 h ]0 o 2 + h 2 0. 
Amylic Alcohol. Valerianic Acid. 
and— 
C 2 U 5 HO + 0 2 = C 2 H 4 0 2 + h 2 o. 
Ethylic Alcohoi. Acetic Acid. 
Another example showing the analogy is, that an 
ether is formed from the combination of valerianic 
acid and the base of amylic alcohol. 
C 8 H n + C 5 H 10 O 2 = C 5 H n , C 5 H 9 0 2 + H. 
Amyl. Valerianic Valerianate of 
Acid. Amyl. 
This product is sold under the name of oil of apples. 
It will, therefore, be seen how extensive a series 
of combinations may arise from the constituents of 
so simple a plant as valerian; indeed, far more than 
can be described in a paper like the present. 
Nat. Ord. Composite. 
From this, the most comprehensive group in the 
vegetable kingdom, only three English plants are 
mentioned in our materia medica. It is so named 
because the flowers are compounded of many smaller 
ones, enclosed in a calyx-like assemblage of bracts, 
termed an involucre. The general properties of the 
plants composing this Order are tonic, astringent 
and carminative. 
Anthemis nohilis (Linn.). 
This well-known plant is found on most of the 
waste places near Bristol, as at Hanliam, Crew’s 
ITole, Fill, Sea Mills, etc. 
It is a common supposition among country people, 
that the more the Chamomile plant is trodden, the 
faster it grows. This idea is made use of by Shake¬ 
speare when speaking of the effects produced on the 
human constitution by an intemperate life, “ For 
though the Chamomile the more it is trodden the 
faster it grows; yet youth, the more it is wasted the 
sooner it wears.” 
Both the common, or single, and the cultivated, or 
double, flowers are sold in the shops, and although 
the latter look the more handsome and are therefore 
often preferred, yet the single are far more efficacious, 
because they contain more essential oil. The oil is 
found in the disc, but in the double flower, the 
yellow, tubular, oil-bearing florets of the disc, are 
changed into the barren white rays. 
The two principal constituents of the Chamomile 
are the volatile oil and bitter extract. One hundred¬ 
weight of the flowers yields about two ounces of oil 
and forty-eight poimds of extract. 
The official extract is made by evaporating a watery 
infusion to a proper consistence, and adding lifteen 
minims of the essential oil to every pound of flowers 
employed, to restore that wasted during the process. 
Taraxacum Dcns-lconis (DC.). 
This very common and ubiquitous plant has the 
credit for far more virtues than it iwobabty ever 
possessed. Whether fresh or as preserved juice, 
as an extract or when actually torrefied, it seems 
all one and the same, with the same comprehensive 
attributes of a resolvent, aperient and tonic !!! 
The juice of the root only is made use of in the 
Pharmacopoeia. When expressed in the autumn 
months it changes its milky colour to a brown, and 
immediately coagulates and deposits caoutchouc. 
The juice also contains taraxacin, grape sugar, gum, 
a peculiar resin, inulin, and the usual alkaline and 
earthy salts. When pressed in the spring, the juice 
has a much less percentage of solids, and is more 
bitter from an excess of taraxacin. The latter, by 
the action of frosts and cold weather, becomes con¬ 
verted into mannite and glucose, producing the well- 
known sweet taste perceptible when the roots have 
been gathered in the latter part of the year. 
The fresh roots yield about half their weight of 
juice. In the spring months, one pound of extract 
is afforded by eight or nine pounds of juice, while in 
the autumn only four pounds will yield that quan¬ 
tity. 
When freshly-pressed taraxacum juice is received 
in water, and heated to 212° F., resin, caoutchouc 
and albumen separate. The filtered juice, after eva¬ 
poration, yields crystals of taraxacin. They are 
slightly bitter, melt easily, and are soluble in water, 
alcohol and ether. When dissolved in the mineral 
acids, they do not suffer decomposition. The coa- 
gulum separated by the filter is then exhausted 
with hot alcohol, and set aside for spontaneous eva¬ 
poration, when the so-called resin is obtained. This 
resinous substance is unaltered by alkalies or nitric 
acid. Sulphuric acid dissolves it, forming a yellow¬ 
ish liquid. 
The dandelion roots, roasted and mixed with 
coffee, are sold under the name of dandelion coffee, 
but very commonly cliicory roots, purchased in 
Covent Garden market, are used as a substitute. 
The so-called dandelion cocoa is nothing more than 
a mixture of ext. taraxaci with soluble cocoa. 
The fruit of the taraxacum, with its stipitato 
pappus, is an interesting object, forming 
“ The schoolboy’s clock in every town.” 
