Am  Aug.^'i8£arm" }  Crystalline  Principle  of  Persimmon  Bark.        \  391 
charcoal  on  a  water  bath,  and  recrystallized  from  alcohol  until  the 
solution  became  light  yellow  and  the  dry  substance  a  light  grayish- 
yellow  color.  The  lead  acetate  precipitate  after  washing  with 
alcohol,  yielded  nothing  to  hot  alcohol  or  ether. 
(3)  The  alcoholic  solution  of  the  ethereal  extract  was  precipitated 
by  lead  acetate,  filtered  and  the  substance  precipitated  by  throwing 
the  filtrate  into  a  large  quantity  of  water.  It  separated  with  a 
brown  color.  The  whole  was  then  shaken  with  ether,  the  ethereal 
layer  removed  and  evaporated. 
This  method  necessitated  further  treatment  with  animal  charcoal, 
and  was  not  so  satisfactory  as  No.  2,  because  of  the  smaller  yield. 
(4)  The  alcoholic  solution  was  precipitated  by  admixture  with 
water,  the  precipitate  still  retained  considerable  coloring  matter- 
Both  the  precipitate,  dissolved  in  alcohol,  and  the  filtrate,  which 
was  transparent,  but  strongly  opalescent,  yielded  precipitates  with 
lead  acetate.  The  second  method,  therefore,  proved  to  be  the  more 
satisfactory. 
Some  of  these  crystals  were  2  centimeters  in  length,  the  crystal- 
line masses  were  dark  red,  soft  and  translucent,  but  completely  lost 
their  crystalline  appearance  on  drying,  no  matter  how  carefully 
performed. 
Alcoholic  solution  of  lead  acetate  precipitated  only  coloring 
matter  for  the  following  reasons : 
(1)  The  precipitate,  when  thoroughly  freed  from  the  adhering 
solution  by  washing  with  alcohol,  yielded  nothing  to  hot  alcohol  or 
ether  and  left  a  dark  mass  on  drying,  the  original  solution  becoming 
considerably  lighter  by  this  precipitation. 
(2)  The  method  of  simple  recrystallization  from  ether  gradually 
deprived  the  principle  of  color,  its  solution  in  alcohol  producing  a 
precipitate  with  alcoholic  solution  of  lead  acetate,  which  decreased 
in  amount  as  the  color  became  lighter. 
(3)  The  alcoholic  solution  of  the  ethereal  extract  of  the  third 
specimen  of  bark  was  light  yellow  and  was  precipitated  in  a  much 
smaller  degree  than  the  corresponding  extracts  of  the  other  two 
specimens  of  bark,  which  were  deep  wine-red. 
Physical  Properties. — In  the  purest  state  I  obtained  it,  the  princi- 
ple was  in  decidedly  crystalline  masses  when  obtained  from  ether  or 
alcohol,  soft  and  of  waxy  appearance  when  moist,  drying  to  about 
