November 18,1871.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
403 
Alkalies .—It lias already been shown liow alka¬ 
lies effect the decomposition of chloral into formic 
acid and chloroform. 
Ammoniacal gas unites with chloral to form, if 
kept perfectly cold, C 2 HC1 3 0, NH a , the analogue of 
aldehyd ammonia: but if allowed to become heated, 
chloroform and formamide (CHO)H 2 N are pro¬ 
duced. 
Chloral unites with many of the derivatives of 
ammonia, amides such as acetamide and urea, 
and bases such as aniline, and, as already stated, 
many of the natural alkaloids. 
Action of nascent Hydrogen .—By adding zinc to a 
solution of chloral hydrate, acidulated with hydro¬ 
chloric or sulphuric acid, the chlorine is removed 
with substitution of an equivalent quantity of hy¬ 
drogen. Aldehyd is thus obtained:— 
O ) f C1 O ) f H 
H }c 2 jci + 3H, = £}C 2 H + 3HC1 
Chloral. Hydrogen. Aldehyd. Hydrochloric 
acid. 
Considerable quantities of aldehyd might be thus 
procured, unless, as is probable, tlie whole, or part 
of the product, is in the form, not of aldehyd, but of 
its isomers. 
Action of Oxidizing Agents .—Chromic acid and 
nitric acid both convert chloral into trichloracetic 
acid. 
C 2 C1 3 0I1 + 0 = C 2 Cl 3 OHO. 
Chloral. Trichloracetic acid. 
Nitric acid of sp. gr. 12 appears to have but 
little, if any, action upon chloral hydrate, and, indeed, 
it dissolves in fuming nitric acid without any imme¬ 
diate change. With the latter, however, it gradu¬ 
ally undergoes oxidation after a few hours, or imme¬ 
diately on applying heat. 
Analysis of Chloral Hydrate .—Several methods 
have been proposed, founded upon the production of 
chloroform when the hydrate is agitated with alka¬ 
line solutions. If the experiment be performed in a 
graduated tube, the volume of the separated chloro¬ 
form can be read off, and its weight calculated from 
tills datum. 
Details of the methods recommended will be found 
in papers which have been published in the Phar¬ 
maceutical Journal. Another plan, which is in 
some respects preferable to the others, consists in 
the direct observation of the amount of chloral libe¬ 
rated by admixture with warm sulphuric acid. 
But these tests, though possessing a certain value, 
do little towards the detection of those other chlori¬ 
nated bodies which may so easily occur, though 
only in small quantities, without suspicion. In fact, 
it has not been shown, by any published experiments, 
that the liquid which separates in the reaction with 
alkalies is really pure chloroform, or whether it 
may not also include products of the decomposition 
of those other bodies. Moreover, the alkaline aque¬ 
ous superstratum is invariably coloured brown, and 
this alone is an indication either of the presence of 
foreign matters, or that a portion of the chloral is 
changed by the alkali into something other than the 
normal products, chloroform and formate. A quali¬ 
tative test is therefore desirable, and nitric acid 
appears to me to be one of the most promising re¬ 
agents. Some experiments upon the subject are, 
however, wanted. 
Further, whenever the alkali method is adopted, 
it would be worth while to employ pure ammonia or 
lime, or potash if properly diluted, and in every in¬ 
stance, until experience has shown it to be useless, 
to ascertain if the aqueous fluid separated from the 
chloroform gives, with nitrate of silver, any very 
marked indications of chloride. The production of 
any considerable amount of precipitate will point to 
the probability that the sample has been imperfectly 
purified, and is open to suspicion. 
It might be advantageous even to estimate, by 
means of a standard solution of silver (an easy opera¬ 
tion), the amount of chloride left in solution by 
different samples, after treatment in the same man¬ 
ner. It is by no means improbable that a more 
accurate estimate might in this way be formed of 
differences of quality than is at present possible by 
the methods commonly in use. 
DRUGS FROM NEW CALEDONIA. 
Mr. Bavay, a French pharmacist, who has lived 
for a long time at the French settlement, New Cale¬ 
donia, Australia, has brought home several drugs 
which have been described by L. Soubeiran as fol¬ 
lows :— 
Ouliepe is a resin obtained by mastication of the 
buds of Gardenia ouliepe , Vieill., edulis, Vieill., and 
sulcata, Gsertn.; it is used by the natives as a 
cement and for caulking ships; it has a yellow 
colour, an aromatic, disagreeable taste and a glossy 
fracture. It is met with in compact lumps, if ob¬ 
tained from the lumps, or as a yellow powder from 
quickly dried leaves and pounding them. Soubeiran 
thinks the ouliepe resin is similar to decamali from 
East India, obtained from Gardenia gummifora 
and lucida, Boxb., and there used in the hospitals 
as a covering of wounds to protect them from in¬ 
sects and to absorb the smell from ulcers. The 
last-mentioned resin is often taken for eleme. 
Kaori, a gum resin obtained from the trunks of 
Dammara Moor'd, Lindl., ovata, Moore, and lan- 
ceolata. Yellowish or white, brittle, with a smooth 
shining fracture; on distillation it yields an essential 
oil of aromatic odour. It is soluble in alcohol and 
may be used as a varnish. 
Morinda tinctoria, lloxb. From the bark of the 
root of this plant Bavay claims to have separated 
alizarine; the natives use a decoction of this root 
and of the leaves of a species of Barringtonia for 
dyeing skins red. 
Peziza Auricula-Judce, sometimes very abundant 
in New Caledonia, is an article of export to China, 
where this fungus is used as food, or, according to 
others, in the manufacture of varnishes. 
Ocotea aromaticci. The aromatic bark furnishes 
an essential oil of agreeable smell, somewhat like 
oil of wormwood and sassafras. 
Santalum austro-caledonicum, Vieill., the tibo of the 
natives, formerly very abundant, has become very 
scarce, because the trees, on account of the fine 
aromatic yellow wood, have been felled to such an 
extent, that now only the stiunps and roots left from 
former times can be utilized. 
Myoporum tenuifolium, Forst. The wood of this 
tree is used as a substitute for sandal-wood; the 
fragrance of the fresh wood is very pleasant, but it 
soon loses it after being kept some time. 
Andropogon Schcenanthos is cultivated in the 
