Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
Jiil>,1881.  j 
Reddened  Carbolic  Acid. 
M9 
Tiemann  and  Haarmann  will  not  quite  discourage  tlie  Mexican  and 
Bourbon  planters. 
Vanillon. — The  odor  of  East  Indian  vanillon  more  resembles  heli- 
otrope^ probably  owing  to  a  trace  of  benzoic  aldehyd.  Tiemann  and 
Haarmann  found  the  vanillin  to  amount  only  to  0*4  per  cent.,  and  to 
be  more  difficult  to  isolate  by  reason  of  the  presence  of  a  minute  quan- 
tity of  oily  matter,  which  adheres  to  it  with  great  tenacity. 
Products  having  a  Vanilla-lihe   Odor. — Tlie     wild  vanilla  of 
North  America  is  Liatris  odoratissima,  Willd. ;  the  odor  of  the  leaves 
resembles  that  of  vanilla  and  tonka.    For  description,  use,  etc.,  see 
'^Amer.  Jour.  Pliar.,''  1859,  p.  566;  1866,  p.  443;  1874,  p.  299,  and 
1875,  p.  116. 
The  dried  leaves  and  fruit  of  Angrcmum  (s.  Aerobion,  S])rengel ; 
AeranthuSy  Reichenbach)  fragrans,  Du  Petit-Thouars,  which  is  known 
in  Reunion  and  Mauritius  as  "faham,"  and  in  Madagascar  as  ^'fanave,'^ 
possess  an  agreeable  odor,  resembling  a  mixture  of  vanilla,  tonka  and 
melilot.  The  aromatic  principle  of  the  leaves  is  soluble  in  alcohol, 
ether  and  boiling  Avater ;  it  has  been  isolated  by  Gobley  Jour,  de 
Phar.,'^  xvii,  p.  350)  in  the  form  of  small  white  silky  needles,  which,, 
on  being  pressed  between  the  fingers  or  slightly  warmed,  develop  the 
characteristic  odor  of  faham  and  bitter  almonds.  It  was  found  to 
contain  C  76'12,  H  4*12  and  O  19*76,  approximating  it  to  the  compo- 
sition of  coumarin.  The  fruit  is  supposed  to  contain  a  larger  propor- 
tion of  this  principle  than  the  leaves.  The  plant  is  propagated  by 
seed.  An  infusion  of  the  leaves  is  taken  as  a  beverage ;  the  mucila- 
ginous and  bitter  properties  contained  in  them  are  considered  to  act  a& 
a  digestive  and  as  a  remedy  for  pulmonary  consumption,  and  tlie  dried 
leaves  when  smoked  as  beneficial  in  cases  of  asthma  (see  also  this 
Journal,  page  339).  A  somewhat  similar  odoriferous  principle  has 
been  found  in  the  leaves  of  other  orchideous  plants,  as  the  Orchis^ 
fusca,  and  the  Ophris  antropophora,  but  not  identical  with  vanillin. — 
Pharm.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  March  18,  1881,  pp.  773-775. 
Reddened  Carbolic  Acid. — H.  W.  Langbeck  attributes  the  red- 
dening of  carbolic  acid  to  the  formation  of  rosolic  acid;  its  solution  in 
water  containing  carbonic  acid  gas  is  bleached  like  that  of  rosolic  acid, 
—Phar.  Zlg.,  No.  35,  p.  260. 
