BARK OF SARACA INDICA 
173 
presence of a larger proportion of the coloring matter than 
in the logwood bark. These results should encourage inves¬ 
tigators to securespecimens of the wood of the Saraca , in 
order to determine if it contains the coloring principle, and 
should this be ascertained affirmatively, whether it exists in 
sufficiently large quantities to warrant its introduction as a 
new source of this commercial product. 
To exhibit the colors produced by alkalies upon the dye 
from logwood bark and Saraca Indica bark, the powdered 
material was macerated over the water-bath with distilled or 
filtered river water acidulated with dilute sulphuric acid (1 
part to 50), the extract was filtered and the process repeated 
until no more color was removed. This extract was treated 
directly with the reagents. Excess of reagents produced darker 
tints, and after a time the solutions were decolorized. 
Reagents. 
Saraca Indica. ) -n . 
Hcematoxylon Camfiechianum. j ß 
Acidified Extract. 
Sodium Carbonate 
Pale purple to reddish violet solution 
Sodium Hydrate 
Blue violet ppt. and solution 
Potassium Hydrate 
Red-colored solution 
Ammonia 
Pinkish-purple solution 
Among other constituents contained in the Saraca bark, 
catechin and saponin were determined. Their presence along 
with haematoxylin is significant as showing the chemical 
position of Saraca in relation to the genera Acacia and Hccma- 
toxylon , catechin and saponin being found, as is well known, 
in Acacia. The evolutionary position of the order Legumi- 
nosae, to which these genera belong, was pointed out in a 
former paper, 1 and it was stated that all orders containing 
saponin came under the middle division of M. HeckePs bo¬ 
tanical scheme, 2 or multiplicity of floral elements. The facts 
1 “ Certain Chemical Constituents of Plants considered in Relation to their 
Morphology and Evolution,” by H. C. De S. Abbott. Botanical Gazette , vol. xi, 
1886, p. 270. 
2 “Les Plantes et la Theorie de V Evolution,” Revue Scientifique , 13 Mars, 
1886. 
