A°i-^our.^Pharm.|       Anthemls  CoMa— Chemical  Investigation.  377 
surface  are  situated  at  the  base  of  elongated  cells,  and  are  imbedded  in 
the  epidermal  tissue ;  those  on  the  under  surface  appear  nearly  glob- 
ular, with  irregular  margins,  and  are  imbedded  in  the  irregular  paren- 
chyma tissue  among  the  stomata,  and  somewhat  resemble  those  found 
in  the  florets.  Those  of  the  stem  are  all  found  in  the  epidermal  layer 
of  the  bark  at  the  base  of  hair  cells.  The  young  hair  cells  are  always 
found  with  one  end  attached  to  the  outer  tissue  of  the  bark,  but  in  the 
older  cells  they  are  all  broken  away  and  are  simply  fastened  by  their 
centre  to  a  row  of  globular  basal  cells.  These  consist  of  a  large,  thick- 
w^alled  oil  cell,  about  two-thirds  imbedded  in  the  tissue  of  the  bark, 
and  from  three  to  five  smaller  cells  separated  by  thin  walls;  all  prob- 
ably containing  oil.  A  solution  of  methyl  violet  was  made  by  dissolv- 
ing it  in  ether,  after  first  mixing  with  a  little  alcohol,  and  upon  treating 
the  sections  with  this  solution,  the  color  was  seen  to  enter  the  oil  cells 
through  the  thin  walls  of  the  two  upper  basal  cells,  provided  the  hair 
was  not  broken,  and  then  gradually  pass  downwards  into  the  cells  and 
the  large  oil  cell,  as  well  as  upwards  into  the  hair  cell.  When  the  hair 
cell  was  broken,  the  color,  of  course,  passed  directly  into  the  hair  cell 
and  downwards  into  the  others.  From  this  it  seems  evident  that  the 
oil  must  be  volatilized  by  the  plant,  through  the  thin  w^alls  of  the 
upper  cells. 
The  plant  was  analyzed  by  Wm.  H.  Warner  (A.  J.  P.,  1858,  page 
388),  who  found  it  to  contain  vol.  oil,  oxalic,  valerianic  and  tannic 
acids,  coloring  matter,  acrid  fatty  matter,  bitter  extractive,  and  salts  of 
potassium,  calcium,  magnesium  and  iron.  Pattone  (ibid.,  1859,  p.  470) 
announced  the  discovery  of  an  alkaloid  antliemine,  and  of  a  crystal! iz- 
able  bitter  acid,  anthemidic  acid  (in  Anthemis  arvensis,  L. — Editor)* 
Because  of  the  close  botanical  relation  of  the  plant  to  Anthemis  nobilis 
its  volatile  oil  was  supposed  to  be  analogous,  and  Avorthy  of  examina- 
tion; through  the  kindness  of  Dr.  H.  W.  Jayne,  I  undertook  the 
work  in  his  laboratory  under  the  supervision  of  Dr.  F.  L.  Slocum. 
Before  beginning  on  the  oil,  the  plant  was  examined  with  a  view  of 
determining,  if  possible,  the  presence  of  anthemine  and  anthemidic 
acid  announced  by  Pattone.  Accordingly  six  kilograms  of  the  fresh 
plant  were  exhausted  with  hot  water,  and  the  resulting  decoction 
evaporated  to  a  soft  extract.  This  extract  was  then  digested  with 
alcohol  for  some  time,  when  about  half  of  it  was  dissolved.  The 
resulting  alcoholic  solution  with  appropriate  treatment  yielded  a  small 
amount  of  a  white  crystallizable  acid  possessing  a  bitter  taste  and  an 
