578 
Adonis  Vernalis 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1       Nov.,  1885. 
being  exposed  to  the  air  and  dried  in  a  stove  at  40°C.  for  several 
days,  lose  one-fifth  of  their  weight  of  water.  They  are  next  mace- 
rated during  five  days,  with  about  five  times  their  weight  of  50°  alco- 
hol ;  the  liquor  is  then  decanted  off,  and  the  spirit  removed  by  distil- 
lation. The  residual  liquid  is  now  treated  with  subacetate  of  lead, 
which  causes  the  formation  of  a  rather  voluminous  yellowish  precipi- 
tate that  carries  down  with  it  a  certain  quantity  of  coloring  matter 
and  aconitic  acid  as  aconitate  of  lead.  This  is  removed  by  filtration, 
and  the  filtrate  treated  with  solution  of  carbonate  of  soda  to  remove 
excess  of  lead.  The  resulting  brown  solution  is  rendered  alkaline 
with  a  few  drops  of  ammonia  solution,  and  then  the  glucoside  is  pre- 
cipitated from  it  by  means  of  a  strong  solution  of  tannin.  This  pre- 
cipitation is  not  effected,  or  only  incompletely,  in  an  acid  liquor.  The 
tannate  of  adonidin  so  obtained  is  fairly  abundant,  yellowish  grey  in 
color,  and  soluble  in  a  large  quantity  of  water;  its  bitterness  is  char- 
acteristic. The  tannate  is  dried  between  two  papers  and  mixed  inti- 
mately with  very  pure  finely  pulverized  hydrate  of  zinc  or  hydrate  of 
lead,  so  as  to  form  a  homogeneous  powder.  This  is  suspended  in  90° 
alcohol,  which  is  gently  heated  during  several  hours  in  an  apparatus 
fitted  with  a  return  condenser.  Or  the  tannate  and  the  hydrate  of 
zinc  may  be  treated  together  with  the  alcohol  in  a  capsule  until  the 
disappearance  of  the  liquid  ;  but  the  former  plan  has  given  the  author 
the  best  results,  the  spirit  being  driven  off  afterwards  in  a  water-bath. 
The  residue  is  then  treated  with  absolute  alcohol  and  the  mixture 
filtered.  The  resulting  alcoholic  solution  of  adonidin  is  treated  with 
charcoal,  so  as  to  remove  as  much  as  possible  the  brown  color,  and 
then  ether  is  added,  which  causes  the  precipitation  of  some  foreign 
matters,  as  well  as  traces  of  adonidin.  Finally,  it  is  cautiously  evap- 
orated and  the  residue,  spread  out  in  thin  layers,  is  exposed  in  a 
vacuum  together  with  chloride  of  calcium  or  sulphuric  acid. 
The  preparation  of  the  glucoside  is  long  and  delicate,  in  consequence 
of  the  readiness  with  which  bodies  of  this  class  undergo  decompo- 
sition. The  points  insisted  upon  by  the  author  are :  (1)  preliminary 
and  thorough  treatment  with  subacetate  of  lead,  which  removes  a  great 
part  of  the  coloring  matter,  as  well  as  a  pitchy  product,  probably 
resulting  from  the  resinification  of  an  essential  oil  observed  in  the 
leaves ;  (2)  elimination  of  excess  of  lead  by  carbonate  of  soda ;  (3) 
precipitation  of  the  tannate  from  an  ammoniacal  solution ;  (4)  inti- 
mate mixture  of  the  tannate  with  the  oxide  of  zinc;  and  (5)  the  avoid- 
