Am.  Jour.  Pharm.) 
August,  1899.  J 
Aralia  Nudicaulis. 
373 
mouth,  and  reminding  of  the  peculiar  fragrance  of  the  fresh  rhizome; 
its  odor  resembles  castor  oil  slightly.  At  ordinary  temperature  it 
is  rather  thick,  solidifies  at  3°  and  decomposes  at  about  3000 ;  efforts 
to  distil  it  in  vacuo  were  not  successful.  Its  specific  gravity  is  -921 
at  200.  Under  the  influence  of  nitrous  acid  it  solidifies,  forming  a 
grayish-yellow,  sticky,  doughy  mass  of  elaidin. 
For  further  identification  the  acid,  saponification,  and  iodine 
figures  were  determined  after  Benedict,  "  Die  Analyse  der  Fette," 
with  the  following  results: 
Acid  figure   7  39 
Saponification  figure  192 
Iodine  figure  106 
By  boiling  the  oil  with  alcoholic  potash  solution,  made  by  dissolv- 
ing 57-0  potash  in  430  grammes  40  per  cent,  alcohol,  using  a  reflux 
condenser,  a  dark  brown  soap  was  prepared ;  by  extraction  with 
ether  a  small  amount  of  crystallizable  alcohol  was  obtained,  which 
by  recrystallization  from  hot  alcohol  could  be  purified.  There 
was,  however,  too  little  of  it  to  subject  it  to  further  examination. 
The  soap  was  decomposed  with  tartaric  acid,  and  the  separated  oily 
acid  extracted  with  ether.  The  remaining  aqueous  liquid,  contain- 
ing principally  potassium  tartrate,  was  carefully  evaporated  and 
yielded  by  means  of  ether-alcohol  a  sweetish  alcohol,  soluble  in 
water.  By  heating  this  alcohol  with  potassium  hydrogen  sulphate 
the  characteristic  odor  of  acrolein  was  evolved.  A  borax  bead 
immersed  in  this  alcohol  imparted  a  green  color  to  a  non-luminous 
flame.  This  water-soluble  alcohol  was  therefore  recognized  as 
glycerin. 
The  fatty  acid  gained  from  the  soap  readily  forms  compounds 
with  most  metals.  Its  lead  salt  was  soluble  in  ether,  and  from  this 
fact  and  the  elaidin  test  previously  mentioned  it  was  recognized  as 
consisting  principally  of  oleic  acid. 
An  observation  of  the  depression  of  the  freezing  point  of  this 
fixed  oil  was  made  in  the  following  manner: 
Benzol  was  used  as  a  solvent  and  Beckmann's  apparatus  em- 
ployed. The  oil  being  too  thick  to  be  introduced  into  the  small 
side  tube,  a  solution  of  known  percentage  in  benzol  was  used  in- 
stead of  the  pure  oil,  and  two  different  observations  with  solutions  of 
different  percentages  were  made.  The  first  depression  of  the  freez- 
ing point  was -153°,  the  second -323°,  from  which  the  calculated 
molecular  weight  resulted  as  907  and  914,  after  the  formula 
