Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
March,  1884.  j 
Pomegranate  Bark. 
137 
permanganate,  yielded  an  amorphous  resin,  whence  the  author  con- 
cludes that  it  is  derived,  not  from  the  tannin,  but  from  the  terpenes 
mixed  with  the  phlobaphene  which  was  submitted  to  dry  distillation. 
For  the  theoretical  considerations  relating  to  the  constitution  of  all 
the  bodies  above  described,  the  original  paper  must  be  consulted. — 
Jour.  Chem.  Soc,  Nov.,  1883;  Monatsh.  Chem.,  iv.  512-530. 
ON  POMEGRANATE  BARK. 
By  William  F.  Jungkunz,  Ph.G. 
A  bstract  from  an  Inaugural  Essay. 
The  commercial  bark  on  drying  in  an  air-bath,  lost  10  per  cent,  of 
moisture ;  10  troyounces  of  it  exhausted  with  benzin  left  a  wax-like 
extract  weighing  1  gram •  it  was  free  from  alkaloid,  yielded  to  alcohol 
a  small  quantity  of  a  greenish  yellow  matter  and  contained  a  little  fat 
and  wax. 
A  tincture  made  from  12  troyounces  of  the  bark  with  alcohol  and 
concentrating,  on  standing  deposited  crystals  of  man  nit.  The  perco- 
late also  contained  a  little  resin,  considerable  tannin,  but  no  gallic  acid, 
and  yielded  a  small  quantity  of  a  light  amber  colored  oily  liquid, 
which  was  soluble  in  water,  alcohol,  chloroform  and  ether,  and  gave 
precipitates  with  ferrous  sulphate,  cupric  sulphate,  plumbic  acetate, 
mercuric  chloride  and  with  several  group  reagents  for  alkaloids. 
For  preparing  a  larger  quantity  of  the  alkaloid  60  troyounces  of  the 
ground  drug  were  mixed  with  about  an  equal  weight  of  milk  of  lime 
and  percolated  with  water ;  the  reddish  brown  liquid  was  concentrated 
on  a  water-bath,  exhausted  with  chloroform  and  this  solvent  evapo- 
rated ;  3'63  grams  of  impure  alkaloid  were  thus  obtained.  It  was 
dissolved  in  alcohol,  the  solution  digested  with  animal  charcoal  and  the 
filtrate  evaporated ;  the  color  was  scarcely  changed,  but  considerable 
of  the  alkaloid  had  been  lost. 
The  decoction  of  the  bark  contained  pectin  and  mucilaginous  com- 
pounds, and  on  incineration  the  bark  yielded  19*61  per  cent,  of  ash,  of 
which  24*36  per  cent,  was  soluble  in  water,  the  remainder  dissolving 
in  hydrochloric  acid  leaving  a  small  amount  of  silica  behind.  The 
ash  consisted  of  chlorides,  carbonates,  phosphates,  and  sulphates  of 
sodium,  potassium,  calcium,  iron  and  aluminium.  The  alkaloid  evi- 
dently exists  in  the  form  of  a  tannate  in  the  bark. 
