19 G 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [September 2,1871, 
and nearly 1 millimetre broad can bo obtained. Zanzibar 
aloi'n is much more soluble than nataloin. At ordinary 
temperatures 30 parts of spirit of wine, 9 parts of acetic 
ether, 380 parts of (sulphuric) ether, and 90 parts of 
water are capable of dissolving respectively one part of 
the said aloi'n, while in methylic alcohol it is most abun¬ 
dantly soluble. These numbers sufficiently illustrate the 
dissimilarity of the bodies under examination. But 
there are yet other points of difference. In concen¬ 
trated sulphuric acid, Zanzibar aloi'n is soluble; but on 
addition of an oxidizing substance as nitric acid, no 
alteration of the yellow colour of the liquid takes place, 
as when nataloin is similarly treated. 
The taste of the two substances is a little different,— 
Zanzibar aloi'n imparting at first a slight sense of sweet¬ 
ness (quickly followed by pure bitter) not perceptible in 
nataloin. 
Again, the Zanzibar aloi'n contains water, which it 
gives off over concentrated sulphuric acid. The air-dried 
substance lost in several days from 11*7 to 12-4 per 
cent., and on exposure to the open air again absorbed 
slowly about the same quantity of water. This air-dried 
aloin kept at 212° E. for ten days lost 14*5 per cent.; 
the loss of weight amounted to only 13-2 per cent, if it 
was heated at 320° (160° C.) for some hours only. I 
have repeatedly performed these experiments relating to 
the amount of water which is contained in the air-dried 
substance, because it is again very different from Sten- 
house’s statements concerning his aloi'n. His aloin 
C^HjgO^ (old way of writing) loses only 2 - G9 per cent, 
of water, when dried at 212° F. for some hours, and not 
11 to 12 per cent, like mine obtained from Zanzibar 
aloes. 
Yet, as to the elementary composition, that of my an¬ 
hydrous substance agrees with that of Stenhouse’s crystal¬ 
lized hydrate as nearly as possible. He gives the fol¬ 
lowing numbers * for aloin dried in vacuo :— 
Calculated. I. analysis. II. 
34 C 2550-0 59-47 59-39 59-24 
19 H 237-5 5-54 5’97 5‘79 
15 O 1500-0 34-99 
100-00 
On the other hand, 0-2108 gramme of the aloin pre¬ 
pared by Mr. Histed from Zanzibar aloes, which I dried 
three days over sulphuric acid until its weight was no 
longer diminished, yielded me 0-4576 carbonic acid and 
0-1128 water, that is to say it contains carbon 59-20, and 
hydrogen 5-94. 
Thus, adopting the new atomic weights , we have— 
Calculated. 
StenLouse. 
Fluckiger. 
34 C 
408 
59-47 
(Average.) 
59-3 
59-2 
38 H 
38 
5-54 
5-9 
5-9 
15 O 
240 
34-99 
. 
.-. 
But Stenhouse admits his aloin to contain 1 mol. of 
water and consequently assigns to it the formula 
C 34 H 36 O h 4- HoO, whereas my analysis relates to a body, 
which, as it has been dried over sulphuric acid, I regard 
as anhydrous. By the heat of the steam bath it further 
loses about 3 per cent., but I think this loss rather 
depends upon decomposition, the substance assuming a 
somewhat darker coloration. These suggestions are con¬ 
firmed by the above statements, which showed that air- 
dry aloin from Zanzibar aloes loses over sulphuric acid 
11 to 12 per cent, of its weight. If we suppose, as we 
are well entitled, this loss to consist of water, w-e may 
then attribute to my substance, air-dried, the formula 
C 34 H;. s 0 15 + 5 HoO ; it would require 11-59 per cent, of 
water, a number closely enough agreeing with my actual 
observations, as has been showm. 
I have been tmable to prepare from the Zanzibar aloi'n 
* Phil. Magas, xxxvii. (1851) 4S1 et scq. Gmelin’s ‘ Che¬ 
mistry,’ xvi. (1864) 461. 
the crystallized bromine compound (bromaloin) which 
appears so easily obtainable from the aloi'n of Barbados 
aloes. 
The reaction of nitric acid on the two aloins is also 
distinctive,—w r ith the latter a deep red colour being pro¬ 
duced, which is not manifested by the former, or by 
nataloin. 
All these facts lead to the conviction that the aloin ex¬ 
tracted from Zanzibar aloes is not only distinct from 
nataloin, but also from the aloin obtained by Messrs. 
Smith from Barbados aloes. I have nevertheless not yet 
thought it convenient to give another name to aloin 
furnished by the Zanzibar drug, still further investiga¬ 
tion being desirable. 
One fact, at all events, results from the above researches, 
namely, that there occurs in aloes more than one crystal¬ 
line principle. 
The Alleged Attempt to Poisox by a Lady. 
At Brighton, on Thursday, August 24, Christiana 
Edmunds was brought up on remand, charged with hav¬ 
ing attempted to administer poison to Mrs. Emily Beard, 
with intent to commit murder. 
The first witness was Emily Agate, a cook in the ser¬ 
vice of Dr. Beard, who said she recollected a cake being- 
brought down into the kitchen. She ate a piece of it, 
and in about an hour and a half she felt giddy and sick r 
with a hot sensation in her throat, and afterwards had 
diarrhoea. 
Adam May, a little boy, eleven years of age, who was- 
identified as having been seen w-ith the prisoner, said, 
about five or six -weeks previously a lady asked him to- 
go an errand for her. She went with him till they w-ere 
opposite to Mr. Garrett’s, when she sent him in with a 
note. Mr. Garrett gave him a book, which he brought 
to the lady, who was waiting for it. 
Mrs. Cole said that about a week previous to the in¬ 
quest on the boy named Barker, the prisoner called at 
her shop and made a small purchase. After she ha d left 
witness found a bag with Mr. Maynard’s name panted 
on it, lying in a pail near the counter. On opening the 
bag she found some chocolate creams, and a smaller bag 
with three lemon bulls’-eyes. She and her daughter ate- 
the bulls’-eyes. Her daughter also put a piece of one of 
the creams in her mouth, but spat it out again. The 
creams w-ei'e put aside, and next day were given to a 
little boy named Walker, the son of a customer. On a 
previous occasion,—in March, she believed,—the prisoner 
had made a purchase in her shop, and after her leaving, 
witness had found a bag of chocolate creams on the 
counter. These were eaten by her daughter and an¬ 
other person. She saw- the prisoner at the inquest on the 
boy Barker, and recognizing her, asked her whether she 
had dropped any chocolate creams in the shop. The 
prisoner denied having dropped any. 
Mrs. Walker said she remembered her son bringing 
home some chocolate-creams about the middle of June. 
She ate a piece of one about the size of half a walnut. 
About ten minutes afterwards she felt a sensation in hex" 
head as if her eyes w-ere coming out; something seemed* 
to stx-ain them. She got a glass of w-ater, but was un¬ 
able to put it to her mouth, on account of her hands and 
arms shaking so. Her legs and arms were convulsed. 
With great effort she got upstairs, but was quite unable 
to reach the door to call for help. She did not notice 
any unusual taste to the cream at first, but when she 
trn-ned the bx-ow-n part over in her mouth, it had a bitter 
taste that remained in her mouth a whole day. She re¬ 
covered without medical attendance. 
William Moon, eleven years and a half old, said that 
on July 19th, the px-isoner asked him to go to Mr. 
Gari-ett’s, in the Queen’s Road, with anote. He gave the 
