COMPOSITION OF IPECACUANHA ROOT. 
355 
It dissolves in concentrated sulphuric acid with a brownish-red 
coloration, and on the addition of water, grey flocculi are precipi- 
tated. Nitric acid dissolves it with a deep reddish-yellow color ; 
upon the application of a slight heat, a lively development of gas 
takes place, the solution simultaneously becoming yellow. Analy- 
sis of the two precipitates described above showed that the acid 
had the following composition : — 
Carbon, 56.36 56.11 14 = 1050.0 56.37 
Hydrogen 6.23 6.22 9 = 112.5 6.04 
Oxygen, 37.41 37.66 7 = 700.0 37.59 
1862.5 
The compounds of this acid, examined by the author, had the 
composition represented by the following formulae : — 
Hydrate of ipecacuanha acid, C 14 H 8 6 + HO. 
First salt of lead, C 14 H 8 0, + Pb + HO. 
Second salt of lead, 6(C 14 H 8 6 ) + 5 Pb 04-4 HO. 
Third salt of lead, 2 (C 14 H 8 6 ) + Pb O + HO. 
Fourth salt of lead, 6(C 14 H 6 ) + 7 Pb + 6 HO. 
The analysis of the hydrate, and of the various combinations 
with lead, prove that the acid contained in the ipecacuanha is not 
gallic acid, but a peculiar new acid. By these combinations, as 
by some reactions e. g. with the persalts of iron, it is shown to 
be very analogous to caffeo-tannic acid, whose presence in various 
plants of the family of the Rubiaceee, gen. Coffeacea, namely, in 
the seeds of Coffea arabica, and in the root of Chiococca racemosa, 
has been proved. The difference between the two acids consists 
only in the proportion of oxygen : 
Caffeo-tannic acid, == C 14 H 8 7 . 
Ipecacuanha acid (anhydrous), == C l4 H s 6 . 
By the discovery of this acid, the group of those acids which 
ar e contained in various plants of the family Rubiaceaa, has been 
increased by one member : 
Catechin, from JVauclea Gambit (dried in vacuo) = C 14 H 9 9 . 
Kinic acid (in its salt of lead,) = C 41 H 8 8 . 
Caffeo-tannic acid (dried at 100°) — C I4 H 8 7 . 
Ipecacuanha acid (anhydrous,) — C 14 H 8 6 . 
London Pharm. Jour., June, 1851, from Central Blatt, 1851. 
