ON  THE  PREPARATION  OF  ECBALINE. 
261 
Dr.  Garrod's  proposed  process  for  the  production  of  the  ecba- 
line  was  as  follows  : — The  cucumbers  are  to  be  sliced  and  dried 
at  a  gentle  heat,  but  so  that  no  loss  of  juice  shall  occur.  The 
dried  fruits  to  be  treated  with  alcohol,  and  the  alcoholic  extract 
thus  obtained  acted  upon  with  solution  of  potash,  in  which  the 
starch,  green  coloring  matter,  &c,  is  soluble,  but  in  which  the 
ecbaline  is  not  only  insoluble,  but  remains  perfectly  un- 
affected by  the  powerful  reagent  employed.  The  residuum, 
therefore,  dissolved  in  alcohol  and  crystallized,  will  of  course 
give  the  ecbaline  in  a  state  easily  rendered  quite  pure  by  a  subse- 
quent solution  in  alcohol,  digestion  with  animal  charcoal,  and 
re-crystallization. 
It  appeared  reasonable  that  by  this  process  all  the  ecbaline 
contained  in  the  cucumbers  would  be  extracted,  whereas  by  the 
ordinary  process  of  making  the  extract,  it  may  be  supposed 
some,  or  even  a  large  quantity  of  active  principle,  may  be  left 
in  the  plant. 
One  bushel  (weighing  40  lbs.  in  the  fresh  state)  of  wild  cucum- 
bers were  acted  upon.  They  were  carefully  sliced  longitudinally 
upon  an  inclined  slab,  so  that  any  juice  yielded  during  the  opera- 
tion would  flow  into  a  vessel  placed  for  its  reception.  The  cut 
cucumbers  were  then  placed  on  a  sieve  for  12  hours  (but  were 
not  pressed  in  any  way),  and  then  placed  in  earthen  pans,  in  a 
warm  closet,  where  in  the  space  of  4  days  they  became  com- 
pletely dry.  In  this  state  they  weighed  *  3  lbs.  5  oz.  The 
liquor  which  had  drained  from  the  cucumbers  during  the  cutting 
and  draining  was  evaporated  to  dryness  by  itself  at  a  gentle 
heat,  and  yielded  3  oz.  extract :  this  we  will  call  extract  No.  1. 
The  dried  cucumbers  were  now  placed  in  a  digesting  appara- 
tus, with  2  gallons  of  alcohol,  and  the  temperature  was  raised 
to  the  boiling  point.  Afterwards  they  were  allowed  to  digest  for 
24  hours.  Then  the  tincture  was  drained  and  the  operation  re- 
peated with  another  2  gallons  of  alcohol.  The  mixed  tinctures 
when  filtered,  presented  a  bright  green  color,  and  being  placed 
in  a  still  the  alcohol  was  drawn  over.  A  small  quantity  of  green 
extract  was  the  result :  this  extract  we  will  call  No.  2. 
The  extract  No.  1  (the  evaporated  juice)  was  treated  with 
successive  portions  of  boiling  alcohol,  until  nothing  more  could 
be  extracted ;  the  filtered  tinctures,  evaporated  to  dryness,  gave 
