Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1904. 
Seed  of  Rhus  Glabra. 
153 
50  grammes  of  seed  gave  3*37  grammes  of  extract  with 
alcohol,  or  
50  grammes  of  seed  gave  2  38  grammes  of  extract  with 
water,  or  
476 
674  per  cent. 
An  examination  showed  that  these  extracts  were  of  complex 
nature.  The  extract  obtained  from  the  ether  consisted  chiefly  of  an 
oil  of  peculiar  properties  and  a  reddish  solid  substance.  This  solid 
substance,  on  precipitating  from  ether,  appeared  as  a  yellowish 
crystalline  mass  and  gave  tests  for  tannic  acid.  The  alcoholic  ex- 
tract was  a  dark  amorphous  mass  with  a  peculiar  astringent  and 
slightly  acid  taste.  There  was  present  a  small  amount  of  oily  sub- 
stance. The  aqueous  solution  contained,  in  addition  to  the  bitter 
principle,  an  appreciable  quantity  of  acid. 
The  results  of  the  above  experiments,  with  other  preliminary  tests, 
showed  that  the  husk  was  of  unusual  interest,  besides  having 
entirely  different  properties  from  the  seed  proper. 
The  separation  of  the  husk  from  the  seed  was  a  difficult  problem 
and  up  to  the  present  experiments  had  not  been  successfully  accom- 
plished. It  was  found  that  by  passing  the  whole  seed  through  a 
carefully-adjusted  pulp-mill,  the  husk  could  be  completely  removed 
from  the  seed  without  crushing  the  latter  in  the  slightest  degree. 
An  exact  determination  gave  the  following  proportion  of  the  seed 
and  husk : 
Seed  60 •  1  per  cent. 
Husk  39*9  " 
The  Seed  Proper — An  examination  of  the  husked  seed  showed 
quite  different  results,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following  determina- 
tions : 
Moisture  4*93  per  cent. 
Ash  .  1*98  " 
The  acidity  was  reduced  to  a  minimum,  5  grammes  of  the  seed 
requiring  only  one-fourth  of  the  amount  of  sodium  hydroxide  neces- 
sary to  neutralize  the  same  weight  of  unhusked  seed. 
Rhus  Seed  Oil. — In  the  first  examination  of  the  seed  for  oil,  the 
whole  or  unhusked  seed  was  used.  The  very  complex  nature  of  the 
oil  obtained  made  it  necessary  to  seek  some  method  of  obtaining  a 
simpler  substance.  An  examination  of  the  seed  and  the  husk  sepa- 
rately, revealed  the  fact  that  the  complex  nature  of  the  oil  obtained 
from  the  whole  seed  came  largely  from  the  husk,  and  that  the  oil  of 
the  seed  was  a  single  comparatively  pure  substance. 
