10 
Glc((nin(js  III  MaifrUt  Media t. 
I  Airi.Jdur.  I'hHiiii. 
(       Jan.,  1K8*2. 
<  h]oroforni, ether  and  benzol, and  rt!seinbling  ei'ieinon,  witliont,  however^ 
being  a  gliicoside.  The  infusion,  particularly  it*  made  with  aciiUilated 
^yater,  eontains  an  alkaloid,  which  was  obtained  as  a  yellowish  amor- 
phous mass,  possessing  no  characteristic  color  reactions ;  it  is  soluble 
in  water,  and  from  this  liquid  not  extracted  by  agitation  with  benzin^ 
benzol,  carbon  bisulphide  or  amy  lie  alcohol. 
The  seeds,  previously  exhausted  with  benzin  and  water,  yielded  to 
alcohol' a  little  li({uid  fat  and  several  resinous  bodies,  of  which  one^ 
present  in  small  quantities,  is  insoluble  in  70  per  cent,  alcohol,  while  the 
largest  portion  is  insoluble  in  40  per  cent,  alcohol,  and  on  the  slow 
evaporation  of  its  solution  may  be  obtained  in  radiating  needles  ; 
these  are  nearly  insoluble  in  water,  ether,  benzol,  benzin  and  carbon 
bisulphide,  slightly  soluble  in  chloroform,  somewhat  acrid,  and  when 
the  dust  is  inhaled  excite  coughing.  A  few  drops  of  the  alcoholic 
solution  added  to  water  produce  a  foaming  mixture.  The  substance 
called  melanthhi  resembles  saponin  and  digitonin,  but  more  closel}^ 
parillin,  has  the  composition  C^qH^jO-,  and  is,  on  boiling  with  dilute 
hydrochloric  acid,  split  into  sugar  and  melanthigenin,  (^u^2-f^r  ^oth 
melanthinand  melanthigenin,  treated  with  pure  sulphuric  acid,  acquire 
a  rose  color  in  15  or  20  niiiuites,  and  become  violet-red  in  15  hours; 
commercial  sulphuric  a(;id  containing  nitric  acid  colors  yellow,  and,  on 
warming,  dark  violet.  The  rose-red  solution,  treated  with  stannous 
chloride,  turns  pale  violet  and  deposits  violet-colored  floccules. — Phar. 
Zeitschr.  /.  EussL,  1881,  p.  180. 
The  seeds  of  Nlf/ella  damascena,  which  have  an  agreeable  odor  of 
strawberries,  yielded  to  (Ireenish  but  traces  of  melanthin.  On  being 
mixed  with  ^\atel•  the  odor  disappeared  almost  completely,  and  the 
distillate  separated  a  few  droj)s  of  oil,  having  a  strong,  blue  fluores- 
cence, which  was  particularly  noticeable  in  benzin  solution. — Sltz.  Ber. 
JJorpater  Natarf.  G-es. 
Salici/lic  Add  in  Violets. — Carl  Mandelin  has  isolated  crystallized 
salicylic  acid  from  the  herb  of  Viola  tricolor,  var.  arvensis  by  prepar- 
ing from  90  lbs.  of  the  fresh  herb  the  aqueous  extract,  treating  this 
with  alcohol,  evaporating  the  alcohol,  agitating  the  remaining  liquid 
with  ether,  treating  the  residue  from  the  evaporation  of  the  ether  with 
hot  water,  again  agitating  with  ether  and  recrystallizing  from  hot  dis- 
tilled water. 
Three  other  varieties,  including  one  cultivated,  were  found  to  con- 
tain salicylic  acid  in  the  free  state  and  none  in  combination.    It  varied 
