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ON  THE  PREPARATION    OF  CARYOPHYLLINE. 
ON  THE  PREPARATION  OF  CARYOPHYLLINE. 
By  Dr.  Theodore  W.  C.  Martius. 
Professor  of  Pharmacy  and  Pharmacognosy  in  the  University  of  Erlangen,  Hon.  Mem.  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain,  &c. 
After  that  Baget  and  Lodibert  had  made  the  discovery  of 
caryophylline  in  cloves,  in  the  year  1825,  it  was  remarkable 
that  Bonastre  should  find  none  of  this  constituent  in  the  cloves 
of  Cayenne.  As  I  have,  upon  two  occasions,  successfully  em- 
ployed this  particular  kind  of  cloves  for  the  preparation  of 
caryophylline,  there  appears  ground  for  concluding  either  that 
I  operated  upon  a  greater  quantity  of  material  than  did  Bo- 
nastre, or  that  I  adopted  an  entirely  different  process  in  order 
to  obtain  this  hitherto  rare  substance. 
In  the  preparation  of  oil  of  cloves,  it  is  necessary,  in  order 
to  obtain  the  largest  produce,  to  subject  the  cloves  to  repeated 
distillation.  In  this  process,  however,  one  cannot  avoid  that 
through  a  too  strong  fire  some  of  the  contents  of  the  still  should 
splash  over  [des  Blaseninhalt  uberschiesst],  especially  during  the 
last  distillation,  when  a  comparatively  small  quantity  of  oil 
comes  over.  In  such  case,  the  oil  is  mixed  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent  with  dusky,  white,  or  brown  flocks,  which  subside  to  the 
bottom  of  the  vessel.  If  the  distilled  product  be  now  placed  on 
a  filter,  the  watery  part  speedily  passes  through,  but  the  oil, 
with  its  flocculent  admixture,  filters  with  extreme  slowness. 
After  several  days  the  oil  will  have  run  through,  leaving,  how- 
ever, both  the  flocculent  residue  and  the  filter  strongly  impreg- 
nated with  it.  Let  the  filter  and  its  contents  be  now  washed 
with  cold  alcohol  of  33°  Beck  [=  sp.  gr.  0.839]  until  the  latter 
runs  off  tasteless — for  which  Process  a  comparatively  large 
quantity  of  alcohol  is  requisite.  The  filter  should  now  be  dried  ; 
its  contents  should  be  collected,  mixed  with  much  animal  char- 
coal, treated  with  boiling  alcohol  (.839),  and  filtered  hot.  The 
clear  solution  upon  cooling  sets  into  a  uniform  white  magma. 
This,  which  is  caryophylline  in  an  amorphous  form,  is  to  be 
transferred  to  a  filter,  allowed  to  drain,  and  then  dried  in  the 
air.  I  have  never,  by  this  process,  obtained  caryophylline  in 
the  form  of  crystals,  probably  from  my  solutions  being  too 
much  concentrated.  The  process  is,  upon  the  whole,  simple, 
though  costly  as  regards  alcohol ;  I  have  applied  it  in  the  case 
of  Bourbon  and  Amboyna  cloves,  as  well  as  in  operating  upon 
Cayenne  cloves. 
