338 
ON A SUBSTANCE RESEMBLING MYRRH. 
Myrrhoidine, 10 
Gum, about 88 
Tragacanthine, or foreign matter, 2 
Action of Ether on the Myrrhoid. 
The powder of this substance having been agitated with 
cold ether, was decanted at the termination of an hour ; this 
ether, when evaporated by the atmosphere, left an oleaginous 
matter, staining paper like oil, and remaining when exposed 
to heat, but not extending itself. The paper became dry, as 
if it had been impregnated with a resin. It was evident that 
this matter was neither resin or fixed oil, for it adhered to the 
fingers when the capsule was heated and dissolved completely 
in cold water without losing its transparency. It dissolved 
with equal facility in alcohol, and this solution was not ren- 
dered cloudy by the addition of water in any proportion. I 
know of no oil or resin which possesses these properties. It 
is still, in this case, the myrrhoidine which was dissolved by 
the ether. 
Myrrhoidine. 
Myrrhoidine has the appearance of gum Arabic; its taste is 
bitter and acrid. It dissolves in water as easily as the purest 
gum, and is also equally soluble in alcohol and ether. It en- 
ters easily into fusion. Unsized paper plunged into it is stained 
as if by a resin; spread upon sized paper, it communicates the 
brilliancy of the handsomest varnish. 
Myrrhoidine is extremely soluble in the essence of turpen- 
tine. Olive oil, cold or heated, has no action upon it: in the 
latter it melts, and becomes adherent to the tube with which 
an attempt is made to incorporate it. It can be ascertained 
that the oil retains none of it in solution, by dropping the oil 
after it has become cold, or treating it with ether after it has 
been decanted. 
The aqueous solution alters the color neither of litmus pa- 
per or turmeric. 
