196 
ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
The alcoholic liquor was then filtered and evaporated, leaving 
a residue which consisted of a crystalline matter and fixed 
oil. This residue was again treated with ether to remove the 
fixed oil, and the undissolved portion redissolved in alcohol. 
On evaporating this alcoholic solution, white crystals were 
obtained, which, when dissolved in a solution of emulsinC, 
emitted a hydrocyanic odor. This mixture, when subjected 
to distillation, yielded essential oil (hyduret of benzule) and 
hydrocyanic acid. 
When the crystals are boiled with water of potassa, am- 
monia is evolved, thus proving their identity with amygda- 
line. 
A quantity of the kernels of the nectarine, well dried, were , 
treated with boiling absolute alcohol, and the liquor thus ob- 
tained filtered and evaporated to dryness; the residue treated 
with ether was redissolved in absolute alcohol, and, by evapo- 
rating spontaneously, crystals of amygdaline were obtained 
of a very regular form. The volatile oil of the nectarine has 
a much nearer resemblance to that of the peach than the pre- 
ceding, and is yielded in much larger quantity than in the 
different species of Prunus. 
The apricot, Jlrmeniaca vulgaris, is a plant bearing an in- 
termediate position in botanical characters as regards the 
two genera, Amygdalusand Prunus; and we are naturally led 
to the inference of a similarity in the chemical constitution 
of its seed. 
A portion of the kernels of the apricot, deprived of their 
investing membrane, and well dried, were subjected to ebul- 
lition with absolute alcohol, for fifteen minutes, and the alco- 
holic liquor filtered and evaporated. The residue which was 
made up of fixed oil, and a brownish matter, was digested in 
ether to remove the oil, and the remainder redissolved in abso- 
lute alcohol, which yielded by evaporation a crystalline mass. 
This placed in contact with solution of emulsine gave evi- 
dence of the presence of hydrocyanic acid, and when observed 
through a microscope, its crystals were an additional proof 
of its identity with amygdaline. 
