134 
NOTE  ON  KAVAINE  AND  METHYSTICTN. 
odor  nor  taste  nor  reaction  with  litmus,  and  fuses  at  266°  F. 
decomposed  at  a  higher  temperature.  It  is  insoluble  in  water, 
and  but  little  soluble  in  alcohol  and  ether  and  in  hot  volatile 
oils.  Its  best  solvent  is  boiling  alcohol,  from  which  it  separates 
by  cooling  in  crystals.  It  is  soluble  in  hydrochloric  acid  with 
a  yellow  color.  Nitric  acid  dissolves  it  with  first  a  yellow  and 
then  an  orange  color  without  turning  red.  Pure  SO3  is  colored 
by  it  beautifully  violet,  whilst  commercial  oil  of  vitriol  assumes 
a  deep  red  coloration. 
M.  Gobley  at  first  supposed  this  substance  to  be  piperin,  with 
which  it  is  analogous ;  but  it  differs  from  piperin,  1st,  in  its 
crystalline  form  ;  2d,  in  its  fusing  point ;  3d,  by  the  reaction  of 
NO5  and  SO3;  and  lastly,  by  its  composition,  which  is  as  fol- 
lows : — 
The  specimen  of  KavaXne  from  Dr.  Mitchell  is  in  beauti- 
fully white  and  brilliant  prisms,  soluble  in  water,  nearly  insoluble 
in  alcohol ;  are  insoluble  in  ether,  soluble  in  concentrated  nitric 
acid  without  reaction  or  coloration  ;  soluble  in  sulphuric  acid, 
and,  when  heated,  the  solution  acquires  a  brownish  color.  It 
fuses  when  heated,  first  losing  its  transparence,  and  with  further 
heat  yields  a  voluminous  charcoal,  and  finally  an  alkaline  ash„ 
It  is  neutral  to  test  papers,  has  little  taste  and  no  odor.  From 
these  facts  it  is  evidently  a  different  substance  from  methysticin, 
possibly  an  organic  salt.  We  propose  at  a  leisure  moment  to 
examine  it  more  closely. 
M.  Gobley  also  isolated  from  kava  a  soft  resin,  which  is 
soluble  in  alcohol,  and  remains  in  the  mother  liquids,  from  which 
methysticine  is  crystallized.  Its  color  is  greenish  yellow;  its  odor 
aromatic ;  its  taste  acrid  and  biting,  and  excites  salivation.  It 
fuses  at  122°  F.,  is  insoluble  in  water  and  soluble  in  alcohol  and 
ether,  and  communicates  to  SO3  an  intense  red  color  like  pepper 
resin.    M.  Gobley  believes  that  the  physiological  effects  of  kava 
Carbon 
Hydrogen 
62-03 
6-10 
1-12 
30-75 
Nitrogen 
Oxygen 
100-00 
