REPORT ON CHEMISTRY. 
513 
verdorben alone have already brought together such a mass of 
observations on this subject, that, as has been justly observed 
by Berzelius, were each of the resins to be examined with equal 
care, the detail would speedily occupy as much space as the 
whole of our present systems of chemistry. 
Basic resins .—Buchner and Herberger have advanced one 
step further in the investigation of resinous bodies. Unver- 
dorben had found the fifth resin of copal to be indifferent ; 
these chemists describe some to be possessed of weak basic 
properties. Thus the resin extracted from jalap and from 
euphorbium they find to be each a compound of two; one 
of which is a weak acid, and the other a weak base; and they 
consider all the drastic gum resins to be similar compounds *. 
The subject, however, requires further investigation. 
Subresins. —The following substances belonging to Bon- 
astre’s class of subresins f have been analysed by Henry and 
Plisson J. 
Car. Hyd. Oxy. 
Amyrine.. 81*040 . . 10*474 . . 8*486 
Subresin from arbre a brais . = 79*728 . . 10*651 . . 9*621 
Alonchi.= 82*640 . . 11*006 . . 6*354 
Ceroxylin.= 83*2 . . 11*05 . . 5*75 
Opium. —Few substances have undergone more repeated in¬ 
vestigations than opium, or been subjected to more varied 
chemical torture. Of this some idea may be formed from the 
following list of immediate principles obtained from it, as given 
by Pelletier : 
Morphine, a base discovered by Serturner. 
Meconic acid, discovered by Serturner. 
Narcotine, a base discovered by Derosne. 
Meconine, an indifferent substance ? Dublanc and Couerbe. 
Narceine, an indifferent substance? Pelletier. 
Brown acid and extractive matter ; a peculiar resin strongly 
electro-negative ; a fatty oil; caoutchouc ; gum; bassorine ; 
lignine, and a volatile principle. 
Many new immediate principles, possessing neither alkaline 
nor acid properties, have recently been extracted from vegetable 
substances: the greater number of these are noticed in the 
following list, containing nearly all the indifferent vegetable 
principles with which we are yet acquainted. 
* Buchner’s Repertorium, xxxvii. p. 17. 
| Bonastre’s subresins are insoluble in cold, but soluble in hot alcohol, from 
which they precipitate in a crystalline form on cooling. 
X Journ. de Pharm. xvii. p. 450. 
2 K 
