Am.  Jour.  Piiarni  ) 
April,  1884.  j 
Crystalline  Principle  from  Jombosa  Root. 
211 
some  flowers  "of  Spilanthes  oleracea;  they  yielded  mean  oleoresin  with 
properties  similar  to  one  obtained  from  jambosa,  both  being  powerful 
sialagogues. 
Dr.  Lyons's  examination  of  the  root  demonstrated  that  it  contained 
a  neutral  crystalline  principle,  an  alkaloid,  a  peculiar  acid,  and  an 
oleoresin.  An  independent  examination  of  my  own  gave  similar  results, 
except  that  I  did  not  notice  the  alkaloid.  I  since  find  it  is  present, 
but  the  quantity  is  so  minute  that  its  study  is  not  worth  following. 
The  extraction  of  the  crystalline  principle,  which  is  found  only  in  the 
bark  of  the  root,  is  extremely  easy.  My  process  was  as  follows :  The 
bark  was  separated  from  the  root,  finely  powdered  and  percolated  with 
ether ;  the  ether  on  evaporation  gave  an  adundant  crop  of  crystals, 
which  by  washing  with  ether  and  again  crystallizing  from  ether  were 
obtained  perfectly  white. 
Properties  of  Crystals. — They  are  white  and  tasteless,  melting  at 
77°  C,  becoming  solid  at  60°  C. ;  soluble  in  cold  ether,  alcohol,  and 
chloroform,  and  in  hot  petroleum  ether.  They  are  insoluble  in  cold 
water,  but  soluble  on  boiling,  separating  in  crystals  on  cooling.  With 
strong  sulphuric  acid  they  yield  a  bright  green  color,  soon  passing  to  a 
deep  reddish-brown.  With  strong  nitric  acid  they  react  violently, 
giving  off  nitrous  fumes  and  forming  an  orange  colored  liquid,  from 
which  water  precipitates  a  new  compound.  They  gave  none  of  the 
reactions  of  a  glucoside,  neither  do  they  possess  the  character  of  weak 
resin  acids. 
Analysis. — Before  combustion  the  crystals  were  submitted  to  frac- 
tional crystallization  from  various  fluids;  the  various  fractions  proving 
of  uniform  composition  the  product  was  assumed  to  be  pure.  By 
exposure  to  dehydrating  agents  it  scarcely  lost  weight. 
Four  combustions  for  carbon  and  hydrogen  were  made,  giving  as 
the  average  60585  per  cent.  C,  and  7*584  per  cent.  H.  Nitrogen 
being  present  it  was  twice  estimated  by  the  absolute  method,  and  after 
the  various  corrections  gave  7  2  per  cent.  N,  leaving  a  difference  of 
24*631  O.  These  figures  allow  the  construction  of  the  formula 
C10H15NO3,  the  theoretical  percentages  of  which  I  have  placed  for 
comparison  with  those  found — 
Analysis.  Theory. 
C   60-585  60-91 
H   7584  7*6 
N   7*2  71 
0    24-631  2439 
100-000 
100-00 
