Amsept.?i89ifrm'}.    Leaves  of  Ceanothns  Americanus.  429 
extracted  from  the  drug  2- 19  per  cent.,  which  was  found  to  consist 
of  gallic  acid  and  resin.  This  extract  gave  negative  tests  for  alka- 
loids. Absolute  alcohol  next  extracted  5-99  grams  =  11-98  per 
cent.  This  extract  was  first  treated  with  distilled  water  and  the 
aqueous  solution  tested  for  alkaloids  with  negative  results,  and  the 
water  yielded  nothing  when  agitated  with  such  solvents  as  petroleum 
ether,  ether  and  chloroform,  except  that  the  stronger  ether  removed 
some  gallic  acid.  Further  agitation  removed  a  yellowish-red  crys- 
talline substance,  which  gave  tests  with  ferric  chloride  and  lead  ace- 
tate corresponding  to  quercitrin. 
Distilled  water  extracted  from  the  remaining  drug  3-71  per  cent, 
of  organic  matter,  consisting  of  mucilage  3-04  per  cent.,  and  sugar 
•67  per  cent. 
Dilute  alkali  solution  extracted  1-76  per  cent,  of  albuminoids,  and 
dilute  acid  extracted  1-76  per  cent.,  consisting  almost  entirely  of  cal- 
cium oxalate. 
Lignin  extracted  by  chlorine  waters  7-37  per  cent.,  and  the 
remainder  58-37  per  cent.  ==  incrusting  matter  and  cellulose. 
The  tannin  was  estimated  as  follows :  Ten  grams  of  the  drug  were 
treated  with  distilled  water  in  separate  portions  for  two  hours.  The 
filtered  liquids  were  mixed  and  made  up  to  500  cc.  25  cc.  of  this 
were  diluted  with  two  volumes  of  water,  and  this,  while  warm,  was 
completely  precipitated  with  a  solution  of  gelatin  and  alum  (-5  gram 
gelatin,  2-5  grams  alum  and  250  cc.  water)  added  carefully,  with 
constant  stirring.  The  precipitate  was  collected,  well  washed,  dried 
at  no°  and  weighed.  An  average  of  two  determinations  gave  9-45 
per  cent,  of  tannin. 
As  these  leaves  have  been  used  as  a  beverage  to  replace  coffee 
and  tea,  I  thought  other  than  the  astringent  principle  might  be 
present,  and  tried  the  following  assay  process  for  theine.  Five 
grams  of  the  drug  were  treated  with  boiling  distilled  water.  The 
filtered  liquid  was  evaporated,  with  the  addition  of  two  grams  of 
calcined  magnesia  and  five  grams  of  fine  sand,  to  complete  dryness- 
The  residue  was  placed  in  a  flask  with  60  cc.  of  ether  and  10  cc.  of 
chloroform  and  allowed  to  stand  24  hours.  This  was  repeated 
twice  and  the  solvents,  after  separation,  were  mixed  and  recovered 
by  distillation.  The  residue,  dissolved  in  acidulated  water,  gave 
negative  reactions  for  alkaloids. 
I  then  tried  the  following  method  with  similar  negative  results : 
