ON  PTELEA  TRIFOLIATA. 
199 
of  chloride  of  iron  produced  a  greenish  black  color,  which  disap- 
peared when  the  liquid  was  heated,  showing  the  presence  of 
gallic  acid. 
Second.  An  infusion  of  the  fruit  was  prepared  similar  to  that 
from  the  leaves.  This  infusion  had  a  very  bitter  taste,  and 
upon  treating  it  as  in  the  former  experiments  the  result  was  the 
same. 
Third.  Two  and  a  half  ounces  of  the  powdered  fruit  was 
treated  with  ether  to  deprive  it  of  fixed  oil,  dried  and  treated 
with  alcohol.  To  the  resulting  tincture,  acetate  of  lead  was 
added,  which  threw  down  a  large  quantity  of  coloring  matter 
and  some  resin,  the  liquid  was  filtered  and  treated  by  passing 
sulphuretted  hydrogen  through  it  to  get  rid  of  the  excess  of  lead, 
and  then  again  filtered  and  heated  to  drive  off  the  excess  of 
sulphuretted  hydrogen.  To  the  liquid,  yet  warm,  water  was 
added  in  drops  until  it  began  to  produce  a  precipitate  ;  it  was 
then  placed  on  a  sand  bath  and  evaporated  to  a  syrupy  consist 
ence ;  when  it  had  cooled,  it  was  agitated  with  an  equal  bulk 
of  chloroform,  and  when  allowed  to  rest  a  few  minutes  it  sepa 
rated  into  two  layers,  the  watery  liquid  being  on  the  top ;  this 
was  decanted,  and  on  evaporation  yielded  a  small  quantity  of 
an  extract  of  a  very  bitter  taste.  I  made  repeated  attempts  to 
obtain  crystals  from  this  extract,  but  without  success.  The 
chloroformic  solution  when  evaporated  gave  a  soft  resinous  sub- 
stance of  a  slightly  acrid  bitter  taste. 
Fourth.  Three  ounces  of  the  powdered  fruit  was  moistened 
with  equal  parts  of  alcohol  and  water,  placed  in  a  percolator  and 
the  menstruum  of  alcohol  and  water  passed  through  it  until  it 
wTas  exhausted.  The  resulting  tincture  was  evaporated  to  an 
extract  which  was  of  a  dark  brown  color  and  a  bitter  acrid  taste. 
One  drachm  of  this  extract  was  washed  with  alcohol,  which  dis- 
solved out  a  small  quantity  of  a  soft  resin  which  was  very  acrid 
to  the  taste.  The  same  part  of  the  extract  was  washed  with 
ether  ;  this  dissolved  a  portion  of  it,  and  on  evaporation  yielded 
a  brittle  resin  which  was  odorless  and  almost  tasteless.  The 
part  which  remained  after  being  washed  with  the  alcohol  and 
ether,  was  principally  bitter  extractive  matter  and  which  had 
none  of  the  acrimony  of  the  extract. 
