426 
The  Fruit  of  Illicium  Anisatum. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\      Sept.,  1885, 
THE  FKUIT  OF  ILLICIUM  ANISATUM,  Loureiro. 
By  Carl  E.  Schlegel,  Ph.G. 
From  an  Inaugural  Essay. 
The  glossy  brown-yellow  seeds  were  removed,  and  the  capsules 
reduced  to  a  No.  80  powder.  This  powder,  dried  at  100°C.,  until  it 
ceased  to  lose  weight,  was  found  to  contain  10'36  per  cent,  of  moisture 
and  volatile  oil.  On  incinerating  this  dried  powder  there  remained 
3*5  per  cent,  of  ash,  the  acid  solution  of  which  showed  that  there 
were  present  the  bases :  K,  Na,  Fe  and  Al ;  also  hydrochloric,  sul- 
phuric and  phosphoric  acids. 
A  proximate  analysis  of  the  drug,  gave  the  following  results :  , 
Portion  soluble  in  petroleum  spirit.— TsNQutj  gm.  of  powder  were 
exhausted  with  petroleum  spirit  by  repeated  maceration  and  decan- 
tation,  and  the  petroleum  spirit  distilled  off,  until  200  Ccm.  remained. 
A  portion  of  it  was  allowed  to  evaporate  spontaneously,  the  residue 
amounting  to  5'875  per  cent,  of  the  whole,  which  residue  had  the 
appearance  of  a  thick  oily  dark-green  liquid,  of  a  strong  distinct  anise 
odor.  On  adding  strong  sulphuric  acid  to  a  solution  of  a  portion  of 
it  in  chloroform,  it  turned  yellow,  then  brown,  and  rapidly  deep  red. 
These  characteristic  colorations,  combined  with  its  odor,  proved  it  to 
contain  oil  of  star  anise. 
To  another  portion  of  the  liquid,  95  per  cent,  alcohol  was  added, 
w^hich  completely  dissolved  it.  On  adding  to  this  alcoholic  solution 
a  solution  of  sodic  hydrate,  applying  moderate  heat,  and  shaking  it, 
it  failed  to  saponify,  proving  the  absence  of  fixed  oil. 
The  liquid  was  found  to  contain  4*675  per  cent,  of  volatile  oil. 
On  heating  in  a  water-bath  at  100°  C.  a  portion  of  the  liquid,  for 
eight  hours,  this  volatile  oil  was  all  driven  off,  and  then  remained  1*2 
per  cent,  of  green  wax,  fusing  at  51  °C. 
Portion  soluble  in  stronger  ether. — The  residue  from  the  petroleum 
spirit  extraction,  dried  and  freed  from  all  traces  of  petroleum  spirit, 
was  exhausted  with  stronger  ether  by  maceration  and  decantation,  and 
the  liquid  then  subjected  to  distillation  until  200  Ccm.  remained  in  the 
retort.  This  was  allowed  to  evaporate  spontaneously,  and  there 
remained  a  solid  residue  of  1*2  per  cent.  Of  this  residue  30  per  cent, 
was  soluble  in  water,  and  70  per  cent,  soluble  in  absolute  alcohol. 
The  aqueous  solution  gave  with  ferric  chloride  an  inky  greenish  black 
