INNER BARK OF THE ELDER TREE. 
215 
The water which escapes on evaporating the saline solution, 
still contained slight traces of an essential oil. Triturated 
with water and pressed, the bark yielded a clear liquid, 
which on boiling deposited flakes of albumen. 
The ethereal extract of the bark, dried in the water-bath, 
possessed a beautiful green colour, and yielded on evapora- 
tion a green smeary mass, from which water extracted a 
small quantity of a tannin yielding a black precipitate with 
iron. Cold alcohol dissolved the mass with the exception 
of ia green soft substance ; an alcoholic solution of acetate 
of lead was mixed with this solution, the bright green pre- 
cipitate collected on a filter, and the filtered liquid freed from 
excess of lead by sulphuretted hydrogen. On evaporation, 
it left a light brown transparent resin, which dissolved readily 
in ether, sulphuret of carbon, oil of turpentine and oil of al- 
monds; less readily in alcohol, from a boiling saturated so- 
lution of which it is again partially deposited on cooling in 
the form of a powder. The solution has a bitter irritating 
taste ; it does not redden litmus. It does not dissolve in 
acetic acid, nor in solution of ammonia or potash, and con- 
sequently belongs to the perfectly neutral resins. The lead 
precipitate was treated with alcohol and sulphuretted hy- 
drogen. The filtered solution yielded on evaporation a dark 
brown smeary mass, of a disagreeable odour, which melted 
when warmed and stained paper. It dissolved readily in 
ether, sulphuret of carbon, fat and essential oils, and with 
tolerable ease in alcohol, which solution reddens litmus. On 
saponifying this fat, and then decomposing it with sulphuric 
acid, it diffused the disagreeable odour more distinctly. On 
combustion with nitre, it left a saline mass, which gave a 
precipitate with chloride of barium after saturation with 
muriatic acid, and consequently contained sulphur, which 
could not have arisen from the treatment with sulphuretted 
hydrogen. The portion of the ethereal extract which would 
not dissolve in cold alcohol contained wax and chlorophylle. 
The alcoholic extract of the bark was of a light brown 
