Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
March,  1885.  j 
Arbutin  and  Arhutose. 
139 
fat,  on  the  contrary,  is  not  again  employed  in  any  part  of  the  manu- 
facture. It  would  appear  that  decomposition  commences  during  the 
long  kneading  with  alcohol  in  contact  with  air,  although  the  drums 
in  which  the  '^extraits^^  are  made  are  kept  closed.  But  there  can  be 
no  doubt  the  fat  could  be  rendered  serviceable  again  ;  at  present  it 
passes  from  the  perfume  manufacturer  |o  the  soap  boiler. 
Similar  extraits"  may  be  prepared  from  plants,  when  no  coloring 
matter  interferes,  by  simple  digestion  with  alcohol. — Pharm.  Jour, 
and  Trans.  Dec.  13,  1884,  p.  468. 
CKYSTALLIZED  ARBUTIN  AND  ARBUTOSE.^ 
By  J.  Dalmon 
The  remarkable  memoir  published  by  Lewin^  upon  the  transforma- 
tion of  arbutin,  the  active  principle  of  the  bearberry  [Ardostaphylos 
Uva-Ursi),  into  hydroquinon  in  the  animal  economy  has  directed  at- 
tention to  this  compound,  which  is  thought  to  be  destined  to  take  an 
important  position  in  the  materia  medica  among  the  antiseptic  agents. 
The  author  has  therefore  been  indu3ed  to  take  up  the  chemical  study 
of  arbutin,  with  a  view  to  obtaining  it  in  a  pure  crystalline  condition 
and  of  devising  a  rapid  and  economical  process  for  its  preparation. 
Arbutin,  in  a  state  of  absolute  purity,  occurs  in  handsome  white 
shining  crystals,  most  frequently  arranged  in  rays  round  a  central 
mamelon.  It  has  a  bitter  taste  which  develops  upon  the  palate  and 
presents  some  analogy  with  that  of  quassin. 
Arbutin  is  a  glucoside.  Kawalier,  who  appears  to  have  been  the 
first  to  isolate  it,  attributed  to  it  the  formula  C^2^ifi\9'  Strecker 
afterwards  represented  it  by  CigH^gO^.  Subsequent  analyses  by  Hlasi- 
wetz  and  Habermann  led,  however,  to  the  formula  035113^0,4.  It  is 
very  soluble  in  water,  slightly  soluble  in  cold  alcohol,  and  scarcely 
soluble  in  ether.  Under  the  influence  of  weak  acids  arbutin  is  decom- 
posed into  glucose  and  hydroquinon ;  at  the  same  time,  there  is  pro- 
duced, according  to  the  author,  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  methylic 
ether  of  hydroquinon.  Further  investigation,  however,  is  required  to 
clear  up  the  exact  nature  of  the  decomposition.  According  to  Lewin, 
an  aqueous  solution  of  arbutin  does  not  reduce  an  alkaline  cupric  solu- 
^  "Bulletin  Commercial,"  (L'Union  Pliarmaceutique,)  xii,  440. 
'  Pharmaceutical  Journal,"  [8].  xiv,  490. 
