492       Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.  {^m6ox^^\^^ 
CONCERNING  SOLANIN. 
Noting  diversity  of  reports  on  solanin,  relating  alike  to  composi- 
tion and  properties,  Cazeneuve  and  Bretem  (Jour,  de  Pharm.  et 
Chitn.,  1899,  465)  took  up  the  work  again. 
They  obtained  the  body  from  fresh  sprouts  of  potato — not  longer 
than  10  centimetres — by  mixing  these  with  their  own  weight  of 
lime,  drying  at  ordinary  temperature  and  extracting  with  93  per 
cent,  alcohol.  The  alcoholic  liquid,  which  was  only  slightly  yellow, 
was  evaporated  in  vacuo,  to  a  syrup,  which  crystallized  on  cooling. 
The  crystals  were  washed  with  ligroin  and  ether  and  further  purified 
by  crystallization  from  alcohol. 
The  yield  was  0-5  gramme  of  glucoside  from  a  kilo  of  sprouts.  It 
melted  at  2500  (against  2400  of  Zwenger  and  Kind  and  of  Kletzin- 
ski;  23  50  of  Hilger,  and  2440  of  Firbas).  The  crystals  contained 
5-52  per  cent,  water,  and  analysis  leads  the  writers  to  propose  as  for- 
mula  C28H47NO102H2O  (against  C43H71N06  of  Zwenger  and  Kind ; 
C21H35N07of  Kletzinski;  C42H87N015  of  Hilger  and  C52H93N018  of 
Firbas). 
The  writers  find  that  it  hydrolyzes  to  a  crystalline  product  melt- 
ing at  1900,  soluble  in  ether  (in  which  solanin  is  insoluble),  and  to  a 
reducing  sugar  yielding  a  di-hydrazone.  The  rest  of  the  article  is 
devoted  to  correction  of  tests  of  identity.  H.  V.  A. 
A  CONSTITUENT  OF  XYLEM. 
Well  known  is  the  reaction  in  which  xylem,  and  hence  all  wood 
products — is  colored  red  by  phloroglucin  and  hydrochloric  acid. 
Czapek  (D.  Am.  Ap.  Zt.,  through  Suddtsch.  Ap.  Zt.,  1899,  326)  re- 
ports successful  extraction  of  the  principle  producing  the  color.  He 
takes  finely  powdered  wood,  which  has  been  cooked  in  alcohol,  and 
heats  it  to  8o°  to  ioo°  with  six  times  its  weight  of  15  per  cent,  solu- 
tion of  tin  chloride.  The  solution  is  then  evaporated,  the  residue 
is  cooked  with  benzol,  which  dissolves  the  principle,  the  benzol 
solution  is  evaporated  and  the  residue  is  dissolved  in  alcohol.  The 
alcoholic  solution  is  freed  from  admixtures  by  precipitation  with 
water,  and  from  the  weak  alcoholic  mixture  the  pure  product  is 
obtained  by  extraction  with  ether  and  crystallization  from  alcohol. 
The  body  has  the  following  color  reactions :  with  sulphuric  acid,  red- 
violet  ;   with  anilin  and  thallin  sulphates,  bright  yellow ;  with 
