74 
Waldivin  and  Cedrin. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
"(      Feb.,  1881. 
alkaline  bicarbonate^  and  if  the  salt  formed  is' "not  in  snfficiently  large 
quantity  to  hold  it  in  solution,  the  waldivin  is  partially  deposited. 
The  most  remarkable  property  of  the  waldivin  is  the  facility  with 
which  it  is  decomposed  by  alkalies ;  with  caustic  alkalies  the  loss  of  its 
bitterness  is  almost  instantaneous ;  with  ammonia  and  the  alkaline  car- 
bonates the  decomposition  is  less  rapid,  particularly  in  the  cold,  and 
still  less  rapid  with  the  bicarbonates. 
At  the  same  time  that  the  bitterness  of  the  waldivin  disappears 
the  liquid  becomes  colored  deeply  yellow,  and  is  again  decolorized 
when  acidified.  The  solution,  which  contains  the  products  of  the 
decomposition  of  the  waldivin  reduces  Fehling's  solution,  and  devi- 
ates the  plane  of  polarization  to  the  right,  but,  not  being  able  to  pro- 
duce fermentation,  the  formation  of  glucose  cannot  be  affirmed. 
In  1851,  Lewy  extracted  from  cedron  a  bitter  crystallizable  princi- 
ple, which  he  called  cedrin,  and  of  which  he  described  very  summarily 
the  preparation,  and  indicated  some  of  its  properties.  Since  that  time, 
Cloez  has  taken  up  the  study  Ann.  des  Sciences  Naturelles but 
could  not  obtain  the  cedrin,  the  author  also  having  not  been  able  to 
obtain  the  bitter  principle  in  a  crystallized  state,  which  he  has  extracted 
from  the  fruits  of  Simaba  cedron.  As  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
Lewy  was  in  possession  of  the  true  cedron,  the  author  admits,  in  expla- 
nation of  these  contradictory  results,  that  the  fruits  that  the  former 
had  treated  could  have  been  mixed  Avith  those  of  the  waldivia,  and 
that  it  was  thus  the  latter  which  had  furnished  the  crystals  which  he 
had  obtained.^ 
Cedrin. — The  cedron  contains  more  than  one-tenth  of  its  weight  of 
fatty  matter,  which  is  quite  soluble  in  alcohol,  and  from  which  it  fol- 
lows that  the  process  given  for  the  extraction  of  waldivin  must  be 
slightly  modified.  The  powdered  cedron  is  treated  with  water  at  50°C.^ 
then  heated  to  boiling  to  coagulate  the  albumin,  filtered  and  agitated 
wdth  chloroform.  The  latter  is  distilled  to  dryness,  and  the  residue 
again  taken  up  with  water,  when,  on  evaporation  of  the  aqueous  solu- 
tion, the  cedrin  is  obtained  in  the  form  of  a  yellow  varnish,  without 
the  least  trace  of  crystallization. 
^  Lewy  cites  indeed  in  the  text  the  Simaba  cedron.  At  the  end  of  his. 
note,  Dumas  has  added  tliat  a  traveler,  Saillard  of  Besan^on,  had  just  brought 
a  certain  quantity  of  cedron s,  whicli  could  serve  for  chemical  and  thera- 
peutical experiments.  Now,  the  last  cotyledon  of  the  fruits  which  re- 
mained from  those  brought  from  America  by  his  father  has  been  confided 
to  him  by  Dr.  Saillard,  and  this  is  a  true  cedron,  not  a  waldivia. — Compter 
Rendus,  1851. 
