New  Work  by  Goris  on  Kola.  411 
SOME  NEW  WORK  BY  GORIS  ON  KOLA. 
By  A.  R.  L.  Dohme. 
Most  of  us  who  have  worked  on  this  once  interesting  drug  have 
more  or  less  lost  interest  in  it,  because  the  value  of  the  drug  appears 
to  be  more  and  more  questioned,  and,  in  consequence,  less  used  in 
medicine.  Perhaps  this  is  due  to  the  fact  to  be  brought  out  in  this 
paper,  that  fresh  kola  was  preferred  to  the  dried  drug,  as  has  been 
the  case  with  numerous  drugs  in  recent  years.  It  is  an  open  ques- 
tion whether,  in  most  cases,  the  fresh  drug  has  any  advantages,  and, 
if  not,  perhaps  it  has  some  disadvantages,  as  in  case  of  kola,  under 
the  cured  dry  drug.  The  French  Chemical  Society  offers  annually 
prizes  for  the  best  researches  in  Industrial  Chemistry,  Organic 
Chemistry,  Pharmaceutical  Chemistry  (two  prizes,  one  for  discovery 
of  new  products  and  one  for  discovery  of  new  methods),  Chemistry 
of  Tanning,  Chemistry  of  Wines,  Spirits,  etc.  This  year's  prize  for 
Pharmaceutical  Chemistry  (new  products)  was  awarded  to  Mr.  Goris, 
of  the  School  of  Pharmacy  of  Paris,  for  the  discovery1  that  there 
exists  in  fresh  kola  nuts  a  crystalline  tannin-containing  substance, 
kolatine,  which  is  combined  chemically  with  caffeine,  as  kolatine- 
caffeine,  an  unstable  body  capable  of  decomposition  into  kolatine 
and  caffeine  by  boiling  with  chloroform  or  water.  Kolatine  can 
only  be  made  to  advantage  if  the  fresh  nuts  are  sterilized  at  1  io°  C. 
in  an  autoclave  before  extraction,  so  as  to  kill  all  the  ferments  it 
contains,  and  which  split  up  the  constituents  on  curing,  standing  or 
drying.  Kolatine  is  difficultly  soluble  in  water,  very  soluble  in 
methyl  and  ethyl  alcohol,  acetic  acid  and  acetone,  extremely  little 
soluble  in  ether,  and  insoluble  in  benzine,  chloroform  or  ligroin.  It 
melts  at  1800  C.  and  with  Fe2Cl6  gives  an  emerald  green  color,  be- 
coming red  in  adding  NH3  or  caustic  alkali,  and  violet  on  adding 
sodium  carbonate.  It  reduces  ammoniacal  silver  nitrate  solution  in 
the  cold  and  Fehling's  solution  in  the  heat. 
It  precipitates  lead  acetate,  potassium  bichromate  solutions  and 
copper  acetate,  but  not  albumin.  It  does  precipitate  gelatin  in  con- 
centrated solution,  but  the  precipitate  redissolves  on  heating. 
Kolatine  does  not  precipitate  quinine  salts,  which  shows  its  differ- 
ence from  Knox  &  Prescott's  kolatannin,  and  which  Goris  claims  is  a 
1  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  Chemique  de  France,  July  20,  1908,  page  814. 
