AmMJa°rch\is9irm"}^^^^7Z  °f  a  Substance  from  Sesame  Oil.  143 
Fliickiger  and  Hanbury  state  that  five  volumes  of  oil  should  be 
taken  with  one  volume  of  glacial  acetic  acid  to  obtain  the  solution 
giving  the  reaction  with  nitro-sulphuric  acid.  I  found  that  if  I 
desired  to  obtain  a  reasonable  quantity  to  experiment  upon,  five  to 
one  was  not  the  proportion  to  use.  I  therefore  measured  out  ten 
volumes  of  oil  and  seven  volumes  of  acid,  and  shook  vigorously  from 
time  to  time,  and  then  set  aside  for  the  acid  to  separate.  The  acid 
was  then  drawn  off  into  a  porcelain  basin  and  placed  over  a  water- 
bath,  in  order  to  drive  the  acid  completely  off.  The  residue  was 
gelatinous,  transparent  and  amber-brown  in  color.  It  was  at  this 
stage  that  the  pyrogallol  reaction,  formerly  described,  was  obtained. 
A  small  quantity  of  the  gelatinous  extract  was  now  treated  with 
diluted  potash  and  warmed.  No  result  was  obtained  by  doing  so, 
but  when  the  solution  was  vigorously  shaken  and  then  allowed  to 
stand  for  some  time,  it  was  found  that  a  white  deposit  had  taken 
place.  In  the  meantime,  I  had  found  that  the  extract  was  partially 
soluble  in  hot  alcohol,  and  that  when  diluted  with  distilled  water, 
a  deposit  also  took  place  there.  A  little  of  this  deposit  was  placed 
under  the  microscope,  when  small  crystalline  needles  were  observed, 
which  served  to  indicate  the  probability  of  the  separation  of  the 
constituent  I  was  in  search  of.  \ 
The  amount  was  so  small  that  no  examination  could  be  made, 
and  there  being  no  evidence  against  the  supposition  that  the  crystals 
might  simply  be  those  of  myristic,  palmitic  and  other  known  acids 
contained  in  sesame  oil,  I  again  concentrated  my  attention  on  the 
deposit  obtained  by  saponifying  the  extract.  The  remainder  of  the 
gelatinous  extract  was  therefore  treated  with  warm  dilute  potash, 
shaken  from  time  to  time  vigorously  and  set  aside  for  twelve  hours 
in  a  conical  test  glass,  in  order  to  collect  the  deposit.  The  super- 
natant fluid  was  siphoned  off  and  the  deposit  washed  several  times 
with  distilled  water.  It  was  now  boiled  in  dilute  HCl,  collected  on 
a  filter,  washed  until  the  washing  ceased  to  give  an  acid  reaction  and 
then  dried  in  a  water  oven.  The  substance  was  found  to  be  soluble 
in  alcohol.  It  was  therefore  dissolved  in  hot  alcohol  and  set  aside 
to  crystallize.  Long  crystalline  needles  were  formed  in  the  course 
of  a  few  hours  which,  when  collected,  washed  and  dried,  melted  at 
1 1 6—  1 1 8 0  C.  Subsequent  recrystallization  was  resorted  to,  in 
order  to  ascertain  whether  the  melting-point  was  constant.  The 
substance  again  melted  at  117-1180  C.    It  was  found  to  be  soluble 
