520 
Poison  Sumac. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1  November,  1907. 
43  5°  C.  to  45  5°  C,  uncorrected.    Its  iodine  absorption  number 
(Hijbl)  is  3  39.    On  saponification  with  alcoholic  potassium  hy- 
droxide the  purified  fat  yields  an  excellent  soap  and  an  abundance 
of  glycerin,  I  gramme  requiring  2367  to  237-4  mg.  KOH. 
Analysis  of  the  purified  fat  gave  the  following  results  : 
I. 
0  2979  gramme  gave  0-3187  gramme  H20  and  0*8173  gramme  C02. 
II. 
0*2960  gramme  gave  0-3136  gramme  H20  and  0-81:19  gramme  C02. 
I.  II.  Mean. 
Per  Cent.  Per  Cent.  Per  Cent. 
Hydrogen                                              11-966  H'851  11-908 
Carbon  74*824  74-806  74'8i5 
Eberhardt36  has  reported  that  Japan  tallow  consists  chiefly  of 
palmitin  with  small  quantities  of  the  glycerides  of  isobutyric  and 
oleic  acids,  together  with  unsaponifiable  matter.  Geitel  and  van  der 
Want37  have  further  reported  the  presence  of  the  glyceride  of  a 
dibasic  fatty  acid  not  previously  described,  which  latter  they  call 
"  Japanic  acid." 
Our  analysis  conforms  more  closely  to  myristin  than  to  palmitin, 
as  seen  by  the  following  : 
Calculated  for  Calculated  for 
Found.                      Myristin.  Palmitin. 
H  11-908  11-990  12*239 
C   74'8i5  74724  75"86i 
O  .  13*277  13-286  11-900 
Sumac  tallow  conforms  closely  in  its  physical  and  chemical  prop- 
erties to  the  published  observations  upon  Japanese  tallow.  Further 
work  may  prove  that  the  two  are  identical,  or  very  similar  in  com- 
position. Owing  to  lack  of  time,  we  have  not  continued  the  inves- 
tigation of  this  substance. 
The  alcoholic  mother  liquors  remaining  after  the  first  crystalliza- 
tion of  the  fat  were  concentrated  and  a  second  deposit  ot  nearly 
colorless  white  fats  was  given.  The  process  was  repeated  until,  after 
four  deposits  of  fat  had  been  obtained  and  the  mother  liquors  had 
been  concentrated  until  no  more  alcohol  remained,  a  small  quantity 
of  a  dark,  brownish-yellow  fluid  oil  remained,  from  which  no  more 
solid  fats  could  be  separated.    A  preliminary  examination  of  the 
36  Inaug.  Diss.,  Strassburg,  188S. 
"J.  Pr.  Chem.,  61,  15 1-5. 
