152 
Seed  of  Rhus  Glabra. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April.  1904. 
Experimental  Part. — The  seed  used  in  the  following  experiments 
was  gathered  about  the  1st  of  September,  after  it  had  become  fully 
matured  and  the  husk  had  begun  to  dry.  A  large  amount  of  seed 
was  gathered  and  preserved  in  as  near  the  condition  it  existed  when 
gathered  as  possible. 
Moisture. — The  determination  of  moisture  was  made  on  the  whole 
seed,  which  was  found  to  be  quite  different  from  results  obtained 
from  the  seed  after  it  was  ground.  In  both  cases  the  husk  was 
included. 
Weight  of  seed,  including  husk   100  grammes. 
Loss,  after  heating  two  hours  at  1050  C.  to  no°  C.  .  .    6*862  " 
Percent,  of  moisture  6.862 
Ash. — The  unusually  high  percentage  of  ash  led  to  a  somewhat  ex- 
tended examination  as  to  the  cause.  The  unhusked  seed  gave  an 
average  of  2-65  per  cent,  of  inorganic  matter.  Upon  examining  the 
husk  under  the  microscope,  it  was  found  that  the  pubescence  of 
the  husk  had  collected  a  large  amount  of  dust.  This  was  subse- 
quently verified  by  an  ash  determination  of  the  husk. 
Acidity  of  the  Seed. — A  preliminary  examination  showed  the  pres- 
ence of  several  acids.  The  complex  nature  of  these  acids  led  to  a 
simple  determination  of  the  total  acidity  of  the  seed  by  means  of 
sodium  hydroxide.  The  acids  were  extracted  by  means  of  hot 
water.  Two  sets  of  experiments  were  made — one  on  the  whole  or 
unground  seed  and  the  other  on  the  pulverized  seed,  the  object 
being  to  locate  the  acids.  It  was  found  that  the  kernel  was  almost 
impervious  to  boiling  water,  so  that  any  acid  extracted  from  the 
whole  seed  would  come  largely  at  least  from  the  husk. 
Extract  from  5  grammes  of  unground  seed,  in- 
cluding husk,  required.  .   0*052  grammes  NaOH. 
Extract  from  5  grammes  of  ground  seed,  in- 
cluding husk,  requiredM   0*059  " 
These  results  were  later  verified  when  a  satisfactory  method  of 
separating  the  husk  from  the  seed  was  found.  In  fact,  the  husk 
seemed  to  contain  practically  all  of  the  acid. 
Extracts  from  the  Whole  Seed.— In  order  to  determine  the  amount 
of  extract  material  in  the  whole  seed,  it  was  pulverized  and  extracted 
with  ether,  alcohol  and  water  in  the  order  named. 
50  grammes  of  seed  gave  n'193  grammes  of  extract 
with  ether,  or   .  22*36  per  cent. 
