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ON THE CHEMISTRY OF ASSAFCETIDA. 
ON THE CHEMISTRY OF ASSAFCETIDA. 
By Hlasiwetz. 
If assafcetida be treated with strong alcohol, the resin and vo- 
latile oil are completely dissolved, the gum and impurities (con- 
sisting chiefly of gypsum) remain behind. 
From the alcoholic tincture, the alcohol and volatile oil may be 
separated from the resin by distillation, so that the latter remain 
behind almost inodorous. If the distillation be performed with wa- 
ter in a copper still with a tin head, the tin becomes strongly 
acted on by the sulphur contained in the volatile oil. The distil- 
lation was, therefore, afterwards undertaken in a large glass re- 
tort, heated in a salt-water bath, in order to avoid the burning of 
the residue. 
One pound of assafcetida of the best quality yielded, on the 
average, one ounce of volatile oil, equal to about three [6 ?] per 
cent. 
The volatile oil of assafcetida is a thin fluid of a light yellow, 
clear, and of a penetrating smell. It is very readily dissolved by 
strong alcohol ; water also takes up a considerable quantity of it, 
from which reason the aqua assafcetida is particularly rich in oil, 
and has an acrid taste. Hlasiwetz found also valerianic acid and 
metacetonic acid in it. The volatile oil of assafcetida does not red- 
den the skin as some other oils do which contain sulphur ; it is 
also neutral to test paper. After it has stood for some time it 
evolves a large proportion of sulphuretted hydrogen ; this proper- 
ty it imparts to crude assafcetida. It does not congeal by artifi- 
cial cold. Its boiling point cannot be exactly determined, for 
when heated, it developes, before and during boiling, sulphuretted 
hydrogen, and becomes thus decomposed. This boiling, however, 
takes place at 130° to 140° C. When fresh, it consists of carbon, 
hydrogen, and sulphur, without oxygen ; but if exposed for some 
time to the atmosphere, it becomes slightly acid, and its odor is 
slightly altered. 
Repeated analyses of the crude volatile oil, have shown that its 
percentage composition varies with the method of obtaining it, 
and according to its age ; the carbon varied from 64.24 to 69.27 ; 
the hydrogen from 9.09 to 10.48; the sulphur from 20.17 to 
25.43 per cent., so that according to these results, a compound of 
