Am.  Jour.  Pharm.) 
December,  1897.  J 
Pomegranate  Rind. 
635 
the  price,  but  more  because  we  have  not  tried  the  exceedingly  juicy 
and  slightly  acid  pulp. 
Since  the  main  object  of  this  paper  is  to  consider  the  constituents 
of  the  rind  or  peel,  it  is  not  necessary  to  dwell  on  the  history, 
source,  etc.,  of  the  plant  and  its  fruit,  as  full  descriptions  of  them 
are  to  be  found  in  several  text-books. 
The  rind  of  the  fruit  has  long  enjoyed  a  reputation  in  medicine 
as  an  astringent,  especially  in  chronic  cases;  it  also  possesses,  in 
some  degree,  the  anthelmintic  properties  of  the  root  and  stem 
barks. 
The  most  important  constituents  of  the  rind  are  the  yellow  color- 
ing matter  and  the  tannin  ;  the  former  has  been  employed  consider- 
ably as  a  dye,  especially  in  producing  yellow  morocco  leather.  The 
tannin  has  been  used  in  the  manufacture  of  leather  in  nearly  all  the 
countries  where  the  fruit  is  found. 
The  writer  has  always  been  somewhat  skeptical  about  the  high 
percentages  of  tannin  which  have  been  reported,  and  has  undertaken 
to  verify  or  refute  them. 
The  fresh  rind  from  some  Spanish  pomegranates  purchased  in  the 
Philadelphia  market  gave  the  following  results : 
The  figures  obtained  by  Mr.  Griffith  H.  Maghee,  a  student  in  the 
Laboratory,  confirmed  these,  although  his  estimations  were  made  on 
different  lots  of  rind.  Others  have  reported  from  20  to  30  per  cent, 
of  tannin. 
Fliickiger  found  5  90  per  cent,  ash  in  the  rind  dried  at  100°  C,  as 
in  the  above  case.  A  recent  estimation  on  a  new  lot  of  rind  gave 
me  3  68  per  cent,  ash  in  dry  substance. 
A  quantity  of  the  tannin  was  extracted  from  the  rind  with  ace- 
tone, and  purified  according  to  the  usual  method  ;  on  drying  at  120° 
it  yielded,  on  combustion,  the  following  results : 
Per  Cent. 
Moisture  
Ash  in  absolutely  dry  substance 
Tannin       "         "  " 
56-66 
28-38 
Per  Cent. 
Carbon  . 
Hydrogen 
Oxygen  . 
52-11 
4-17 
4372 
100  00 
A  portion  of  the  tannin  dissolved  in  water  gave  the  following  char- 
acteristic reactions : 
