Am'  Mayjmrm'}  ^j'stalline  Principle  from  Xantkoxylum.  229 
ON  A  CRYSTALLINE  PRINCIPLE  FROM  XANTHOXY- 
LUM  FRAXINEUM.1 
By  J.  U.  Lloyd. 
As  early  as  1829 2  an  analysis  was  made  by  Mr.  Edward  Staples 
of  the  bark  of  this  shrub  and  a  crystalline  substance  identified,  to 
which  he  affixed  the  name  Xanthoxyline  (now  Xanthoxyhw).  Next, 
Dr.  R.  E.  Griffith3  refers  to  the  shrub  as  a  drug,  and  mentions  this 
constituent.  In  1876,  I  presented  Prof.  Maisch  samples  of  a  crys- 
talline substance,  obtained  from  the  bark  of  the  shrub,  which, 
together  with  a  brief  description  accompanying  same,  were  pre- 
sented to  the  college  by  Prof.  Maisch  at  the  pharmaceutical  meet- 
ing, May,  1876.4 
This  is  the  record  of  the  substance  under  consideration,  so  far  as 
my  knowledge  can  carry  it,  and  it  seems  probable  that  your  college 
specimen  is  the  only  considerable  amount  in  existence,  and  possibly 
the  only  specimen  purified  since  fifty  years  before,  when  Mr. 
Staples  observed  the  crystals  to  which  he  referred.  It  will,  I  think, 
be  evident  to  others  who  refer  to  my  description  of  .1876  fas  it  is  to 
myself),  that  the  substance  mentioned  by  Mr.  Staples  as  crystals 
that  separated  from  an  evaporated  tincture,  were  identical  with  the 
material  I  presented  to  Prof.  Maisch,  and  that  my  work  confirmed 
his  statement. 
Since  it  is  evident  to  me  that  this  body  is  of  little  if  any  medi- 
cinal value,  it  may  be  regretted  that  it  should  have  been  honored 
by  so  characteristic  a  name  as  xanthoxylin,  although  from  a  chemi- 
cal view  it  may  yet  prove  very  interesting. 
This  body  exists  in  the  dried  bark  and  is  easily  obtained,  simply 
the  act  of  extracting  the  plant  with  any  solvent  that  will  dissolve  a 
fat,  also  removing  it  readily.  Upon  evaporation  of  the  solvent,  the 
substance  crystallizes  throughout  the  residual  oily  magma. 
Exposure  to  a  low  temperature  facilitates  its  separation  from  the 
oleaginous  companion,  but  even  then  considerable  amounts  remain 
in  solution  in  the  (often  green)  viscid  fixed  oil  that  is  extracted  from 
1  From  a  letter  to  Prof.  Trimble,  read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting, 
April  22. 
2  Am.  Jour.  Pharm.,  Oct.,  1829,  p.  163. 
3  Am.  Jour.  Pharm.,  1837,  viii,  p.  195. 
4  Am.  Jour.  Pharm.,  1876,  p.  226. 
