ON  THE  PREPARATION  OF  CARYOPHYLLINE.  65 
The  following  process,  however,  is  simpler  and  less  expensive, 
It  was  put  in  practice  upon  some  Cayenne  cloves,  and  in  fact 
upon  a  sample,  10  lbs.  of  which,  after  a  fourteenth  distillation, 
yielded  only  25|  ounces  of  oil,  while  in  general,  from  a  like 
weight,  one  ought  to  obtain  33j  ounces. 
If  there  be  taken  cloves  (of  any  kind)  which  by  repeated  dis- 
tillations with  water  have  been  as  much  as  possible  deprived  of 
essential  oil,  and  they  be  introduced  with  water  into  an  alembic 
charged  up  to  the  neck,  and  a  quick  heat  be  then  applied,  there 
suddenly  passes  over  a  brown,  flocculent,  turbid  liquid.  To  re- 
fer to  an  actual  experiment ;  after  Cayenne  cloves  had  been  dis- 
tilled for  the  thirteenth  time,  and  the  quantity  of  oil  obtained 
in  the  last  distillation  was  so  inconsiderable  that  further  treat- 
ment was  thought  unnecessary,  I  rapidly  subjected  them  four 
times  over  to  the  process  described,  thus  obtaining  from  38  to  40 
litres  of  a  brown  distillate.  The  alembic  was  now  emptied  and 
cleansed  from  the  exhausted  materials,  the  brown  distillate  was 
introduced  and  distilled.  From  the  first  7  litres  of  milky  dis- 
tillate that  passed  over,  there  separated  5  drachms  of  oil,  which, 
however,  was  of  weak  taste,  and  perhaps  consisted  chiefly  of 
caryophyllic  acid.  The  distillation  was  continued  until  the  so- 
lution that  passed  over  scarcely  possessed  the  smell  or  taste  of 
cloves,  and  was  as  clear  as  water.  On  the  next  day,  the  residue 
remaining  in  the  alembic  having  become  cold,  was  transferred 
to  a  filter  and  washed  with  cold  water  until  it  ceased  to  yield 
any  color.  When  dried,  this  mass  constituted  crude  caryophyl- 
line — free,  however,  from  all  trace  of  oil  of  cloves.  It  was  now 
transferred,  with  the  addition  of  some  animal  charcoal,  to  a 
proper  (and  for  such  extractions  peculiarly  adapted)  tin  vessel, 
treated  in  a  water-bath  with  boiling  alcohol  (-839),  and  the  so- 
lution filtered  hot.  The  crude  caryophylline,  which  had  separa- 
ted upon  cooling,  and  which  formed  with  the  alcohol  a  sort  of 
magma,  was  now  transferred  to  a  filter ;  the  spirit  running  from 
it  of  a  yellowish  brown.  The  filtered  liquor  was  again  thrown 
upon  the  charcoal,  raised  to  the  boiling  temperature  and  filtered, 
by  which,  however,  but  little  caryophylline  was  separated. 
This,  however,  was  placed  upon  a  filter  ;  the  alcohol  that  drained 
from  it  was  distilled  off  to  a  few  ounces,  and  the  residue  mixed 
with  some  animal  charcoal  and  evaporated — and  then  treated 
5 
