166 
Medicinal  Catechu. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I      April,  1889. 
all  gotten  in  Philadelphia :  Nos.  10  and  14  from  retail  pharmacies, 
the  remaining  eight  from  prominent  wholesale  establishments.  Con- 
cerning No.  17,  it  might  be  stated  that  it  is  neatly  put  up  in  four- 
ounce  packages  and  labelled  "  Catechu  Pallidum." 
The  impurities  .  which  these  examinations  disclosed  consisted 
mainly  of  leaves,  sticks,  pebbles  and  dirt  of  various  sorts.  The 
possibility  of  the  presence,  in  the  drug  markets,  of  catechu  that 
had  been  treated  with  potassium-bichromate  for  dyers'  use — as  was 
pointed  out  in  a  recent  paper  (Amer.  Jour.  Pharmacy,  Oct.,  1888), 
was  the  incentive  for  a  thorough  search,  in  each  sample,  for  this  dan- 
gerous impurity,  but  its  absence  was  proven  in  every  instance.  By 
reference  to  the  appended  table  it  is  seen  that  the  moisture  ranges 
from  7*99  per  cent,  to  14*47  per  cent.,  the  powdered  samples  contain- 
ing an  average  of  11*63  per  cent,  and  those  in  mass  11*65  per  cent. 
The  average  yield  of  ash  was  very  large,  No.  14  giving  19*61  per 
cent.,  the  largest.  This  sample  consisted  principally  of  sticks,  leaves 
and  sand,  hardly  meriting  the  name  catechu.  No.  7  showed  the  low- 
est ash  percentage, viz.,  1*67  percent. ;  four  other  samples  yielded  less 
than  3  per  cent.  No.  17,  when  ignited  for  ash  gave  off  a  strong  odor 
of  burning  nitrogeneous  matter,  and  when  a  portion  of  the  sample 
was  dissolved  in  hot  water  the  solution  had  a  decided  and  strong 
cheese-like  odor. 
It  was  noticeable  that  those  samples  giving  the  highest  ash  percent- 
age also  contained  iron  in  the  largest  proportions,  this  being  especially 
true  of  Nos.  2,  9,  14  and  16,  all  of  which  gave  evidence  of  its  pres- 
ence in  large  amounts.  The  other  samples  also  contained  iron  in 
varying  amounts,  some,  notably  No.  18,  showing  its  presence  but 
slightly.  Nos.  1  and  2  also  had  aluminium  present  in  small  quanti- 
ties. 
The  catechu  estimations  were  made  as  follows :  A  1  per  cent,  solu- 
tion (0*5  gm.  in  50  cc.)  of  the  catechu,  in  hot  water,  after  cooling, 
was  shaken  up  with  successive  portions  of  stronger  ether,  the  ethereal 
layer  separated  after  each  treatment ;  these  several  ethereal  solutions 
were  then  mixed  together  and  the  ether  evaporated.  The  ethereal 
residue  was  again  treated  with  stronger  ether  to  dissolve  away  the 
catechin  from  that  portion  of  the  aqueous  extract  which  had  remained 
mixed  with  the  first  ethereal  solutions.  This  last  solution  was  again 
evaporated,  the  residue  being  pure  catechin.  As  the  table  shows,  the 
yield  of  catechin  was  quite  small,  the  greatest  amount  obtained  from 
