THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
NOVEMBER,  1887. 
ON  THE  EXISTENCE  OF  CANE  SUGAR  IN 
CIMICIFUGA. 
A  contribution  from  the  Chemical  Laboratory  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy. 
Read  before  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  October  18, 
By  C.  S.  Gallaher. 
During  the  latter  part  of  the  past  summer  I  observed  crystals,  de- 
posited in  a  pint  bottle  of  fluid  extract  of  cimicifuga,  which  were 
clear,  monoclinic  prisms,  and  possessed  a  sweet  taste.  The  fluid  ex- 
tract was  made  about  one  year  ago,  by  the  U.  S.  P.  process,  from  the 
drug  of  my  own  powdering ;  it  is  impossible,  therefore,  that  the  crys- 
tals could  have  come  from  anything  but  the  cimicifaga. 
On  looking  over  the  history  of  the  drug,  I  found  that  the  crystals, 
which  resembled  cane  sugar,  have  not  been  previously  observed,  al- 
though sugar  is  incidentally  mentioned  more  than  once;  so  to  satisfy 
my  own  curiosity,  and  thinking  it  might  be  a  subject  of  interest  to 
the  pharmaceutical  profession,  I  brought  them  with  me  to  the  chemi- 
cal laboratory  for  identification  and  further  examination. 
The  following  tests  were  applied  : 
1.  A  few  of  the  crystals,  after  washing  with  alcohol,  were  heated 
with  Fehling's  solution,  but  no  precipitate  occurred. 
2.  To  another  portion,  after  similarly  washing  with  alcohol,  hydro- 
chloric acid  was  added,  the  mixture  boiled,  neutralized,  and  Fehling's 
solution  added;  an  immediate  precipitate  of  Cu20  formed. 
3.  On  fusing  some  of  the  crystals  on  platinum  foil,  the  characteris- 
tic odor  of  caramel  was  developed. 
4.  By  adding  concentrated  sulphuric  acid  to  a  saturated  aqueous 
solution  of  the  crystals,  an  immediate  blackening  occurred,  and  the 
mixture  thickened. 
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