Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Sept.,  1891. 
Fabiana  Imbricata. 
433 
It  was  first  brought  to  notice  by  Dr.  Henry  H.  Rusby,1  who  wrote 
a  botanical  description  and  made  a  crude,  but,  under  the  circum- 
stances, a  good  chemical  analysis  of  the  drug.  He  observed  that 
by  extracting  with  ether,  alcohol,  or  water,  the  extractive  produced 
with  ammonia  a  deep  blue  fluorescence,  which  he  supposed  to  be 
due  to  a  resin.  He  also  obtained  with  the  same  fluids  a  heavy 
brown  precipitate  upon  adding  a  solution  of  iodine  in  potassium 
iodide. 
Dr.  A.  B.  Lyons1  found:  A  minute  quantity  of  some  alkaloid 
that  formed  crystallizable  salts,  a  neutral  crystalline  principle,  a 
fluorescent  body  much  like  aesculin  which  he  did  not  succeed  in 
crystallizing,  a  volatile  oil,  and  a  resin. 
George  A.  Deitz1  took  up  the  work  and  made  quite  a  full  plant 
analysis  of  the  drug,  and  succeeded  in  crystallizing  the  fluorescent 
principle,  but  could  not  find  an  alkaloid  as  reported  by  Dr.  Lyons. 
He  also  reported  "no  tannin,"  and  Prof.  Henry  Trimble1  and  J.  M. 
Schroeter  made  a  further  investigation  of  the  neutral  principle, 
making  combustions  of  the  same  and  calculating  therefrom  the 
formula  (C18H31Oa)x. 
I  have  given  a  summary  of  the  work  that  has  been  done,  so  that 
a  better  understanding  may  be  had  of  my  work  and  the  questions 
involved. 
The  Analysis. — The  leaves  and  branches  were  ground  together 
and  passed  through  a  number  60  sieve. 
I.  Treatment  with  petroleum  ether. — Ten  grams  of  the  powder 
was  taken  and  macerated  with  100  cc.  of  petroleum  ether  for  10 
days.  This  solvent  extracted  5-64  per  cent.,  fat  and  wax  3-24  per 
cent.,  volatile  oil  2-22  per  cent.,  and  a  small  amount  of  fluorescent 
principle  and  a  caoutchouc-like  body,  that  burns  with  a  crackling 
sound  and  a  bright  flame  and  is  soluble  in  chloroform  but  insoluble 
in  alcohol,  and  distils  with  white  fumes  of  a  suffocating  odor. 
II.  Treatment  with  stronger  ether. — The  drug  freed  from  the 
previous  solvent  was  treated  with  1 00  cc.  of  stronger  ether  that  was 
entirely  free  from  water,  and  macerated  for  10  days.  Total  amount 
dissolved  3-94  per  cent.  The  ethereal  extract  was  evaporated  and 
this  residue  treated  by  means  of  a  Gooch  crucible  with  hot  water. 
The  residue,  after  washing  thoroughly  seemed  to  be  full  of  minute 
1  See  references  at  the  close. 
