Am.  Jour.  Phiu  m  ) 
June,  1881.  J 
Testing  of  Peru  Balsam. 
299 
room  for  doubt  ;  for  in  what  manner  can  it  be  determined  that  1,000 
parts  of  balsam  are  neutralized  by  75  parts  of  sodium  carbonate  ?  The 
execution  of  this  experiment  is  not  quite  so  simple  as  it  would  appear 
in  this  laconic  requirement.  Should  the  balsam  be  boiled  with  the 
finely-powdered  carbonate,  the  action  of  the  same  aided  by  means  of 
water,  or  must,  inversely,  the  balsam  be  diluted  with  alcohol?  Good 
Peru  balsam  was  boiled  for  a  day  with  an  excess  of  sodium  carbonate 
and  10  times  its  weight  of  alcohol  (sp.  gr.  0*830)  in  a  flask  provided 
with  an  inverted  condenser;  91'6  parts  of  sodium  carbonate  were 
required  for  1,000  parts  of  balsam.  It  is  probable  that  hereby,  finally,, 
not  only  the  free  acid  is  combined  with  the  sodium,  but  that  also  a 
decomposition  of  the  cinnamic  ether  or  cinnamein  begins.  It  appears,, 
therefore,  more  advisable  to  extract  the  free  cinnamic  acid  by  means 
of  lime,  in  that  it  may  be  accepted  that  the  latter  is  without  action  on 
the  compound  cinnamic  ether.  If,  for  example,  50  parts  of  balsam 
are  boiled  for  two  hours  with  a  mixture  consisting  of  20  parts  of  lime 
and  500  parts  of  water,  and  renewal  of  the  evaporated  water,  the  boil- 
ing mixture  filtered  and  the  mass  twice  washed,  employing  each  time 
200  parts  of  hot  water,  the  cinnamate  of  calcium  is  thus  obtained  in 
solution.  This  is  evaporated  to  200  parts  (whereby  it  becomes  more 
and  more  of  a  yellowish  color,  developing  a  cumarin  odor,  which 
resembles  the  odor  of  the  legumes  of  the  Peru  balsam),  and,  after  super- 
saturation  with  hydrochloric  acid,  is  placed  for  some  hours  in  the  cold,, 
whereupon  the  separated  cinnamic  acid  is  collected,  after  draining 
pressed  between  bibulous  paper,  first  dried  by  exposure  to  the  air  and 
finally  on  the  water-bath.  When  prepared  from  pure  balsam  the  acid 
consists  of  loose,  not  smeary,  somewhat  brownish  crystals,  the  weight 
of  which  amounts  to  IJ  to  2  parts,  or  from  3  to  4  per  cent.  Adul- 
terated balsams  yield,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  admixture,  a 
much  less  pure  cinnamic  acid,  or  they  give  much  more  or  less  than 
from  3  to  4  per  cent,  of  acid.  That  cinnamic  acid  is  thus  obtained  is 
manifest  from  the  fact  that  it  requires  for  solution  100  parts  of  boiling 
water,  while  benzoic  acid,  for  example,  dissolves  at  100°C.  in  15  parts 
of  water.  Upon  cooling  the  hot,  saturated,  aqueous  solution,  the  cin- 
namic acid  is,  for  the  most  part,  again  separated.  If  2  parts  of  the 
crystals,  purified  in  this  manner,  are  shaken  in  a  flask  with  1  part  of 
potassium  permanganate  and  20  parts  of  luke-warm  water,  a  strong^ 
odor  of  bitter  almond  oil  is  developed,  the  cinnamic  acid  yielding 
benzylic  aldehyd. 
