ON  RICINUS  COMMUNIS. 
209 
coagulated  by  heat,  and  with  beans  previously  boiled  in  alcohol  or 
dilute  acids,  no  odor  is  perceptible  in  afterwards  forming  the  emul- 
sion with  water,  whilst  ether  appears  to  extract  no  principle,  as, 
after  digestion  in  it,  they  yield  the  odor  alluded  to  by  trituration 
with  water. 
Although,  in  the  experiments,  no  volatile  oil  was  obtained  by 
distillation,  owing  possibly  to  the  small  quantity  of  the  marc  used, 
yet  it  is  highly  probable  a  principle  does  exist  in  the  bean  analogous 
to  amygdalin  or  sulpho-sinapism,  which,  with  water,  undergoes  the 
peculiar  fermentation  with  the  emulsin,  forming  a  new  substance 
of  an  odorous  nature,  as  well  as  very  acrid  and  poisonous. 
That  this  acrid  principle  is  not  volatilized  by  heat  alone,  as  has 
been  for  a  long  while  the  impression,  was  satisfactorily  proven. 
As  the  cake  residue,  after  expression,  was  thoroughly  exhausted  by 
ether,  to  free  it  from  the  oil,  this  was  then  heated  for  some  length 
of  time  upon  an  iron  plate,  at  a  temperature  sufficiently  high  to 
slightly  roast  it.  Twenty  grains  of  this  taken  by  an  individual  pro- 
duced the  most  violent  emeto-cathartic  effects,  being  vomited  and 
purged  for  the  space  of  seven  or  eight  hours. 
These  experiments  go  far  towards  showing  the  importance  of 
boiling  the  expressed  oil  with  water,  as  the  acrid  principle  being 
rendered  volatile,  is  driven  off,  not  by  the  mere  application  of  heat 
alone,  but  from  the  fact  of  the  presence  of  water  in  the  operation. 
But  this  process  must  be  carefully  employed,  or  the  fat  acids  of 
the  oil  become  materially  modified,  and  are  rendered  acrid  and 
rancid,  as  in  that  made  in  the  West  Indies,  which  is  prepared 
without  regard  to  the  amount  of  heat  used. 
The  chemical  nature  of  these  acids  is  not  as  yet  fully  understood, 
being  still  the  subject  of  research  by  many  eminent  chemists  in 
Europe. 
Although  all  attempts  were  fruitless  to  isolate  any  decided  prin- 
ciple of  an  acrid  character,  sufficient  evidence^was  adduced  to 
verify  the  assertion  that  principles  do  exist  in  the  bean  which  are 
rendered  both  odorous  and  volatile  by  the  intervention  of  water ; 
and  it  is  hoped,  by  future  exper  iment  upon  this  interesting  subject, 
more  definite  results  may  be  obtained. 
14 
