Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
January,  1911.  ) 
Rhizome  of  Iris  Versicolor. 
5 
at  iio°.  The  amount  of  this  substance  was  too  small  for  further 
examination. 
The  sodium  carbonate  {h)  and  the  sodium  hydroxide  {c)  ex- 
tracts of  the  original  ethereal  liquid,  when  acidified,  yielded  only 
small  quantities  of  gummy  substances  from  which  no  definite  com- 
pound could  be  isolated.  On  finally  evaporating  the  ethereal  liquids, 
which  had  thus  been  completely  extracted  with  alkalies,  1.5  grammes 
of  a  yellow,  amorphous  mass  remained. 
The  original  aqueous  liquid  (A),  which  had  been  extracted  with 
ether  as  above  described-,  was  next  repeatedly  shaken  with  amyl 
alcohol.  The  united  amyl  alcoholic  extracts  were  washed  with 
water,  and  then  extracted  successively  with  aqueous  solutions  of  am- 
monium carbonate,  sodium  carbonate,  and  sodium  hydroxide.  The 
ammonium  carbonate  extract,  when  acidified  with  dilute  sulphuric 
acid,  yielded  a  resinous  precipitate,  which  was  taken  up  by  amyl 
alcohol,  the  solution  being  washed,  dried,  and  the  solvent  removed. 
The  brown  syrup  thus  obtained,  which  showed  no  tendency  to 
crystallize,  gave  an  intense  black  coloration  with  ferric  chloride,  and 
evidently  contained  tannin.  For  the  further  examination  of  this 
syrup  it  was  esterified,  but  no  definite  substance  could  be  isolated  by 
this  treatment. 
The  sodium  carbonate  and  sodium  hydroxide  extracts  of  the  amyl 
alcoholic  liquid  yielded  only  small  quantities  of  brown,  amorphous 
resins,  which  were  specially  examined  for  glucosides,  but  no  positive 
evidence  of  the  presence  of  such  compounds  was  afforded.  The 
amyl  alcoholic  liquid,  which  had  been  extracted  with  the  various 
alkalies,  was  finally  washed,  and  the  solvent  removed  under  dimin- 
ished pressure.  A  thick,  gummy  mass,  amounting  to  about  2 
grammes,  was  thus  obtained,  but  no  crystalline  compound  could  be 
isolated  from  it. 
The  aqueous  liquid  which  had  been  extracted  with  ether  and 
with  amyl  alcohol,  as  above  described,  was  dark  brown  in  color, 
and  gave  a  copious  brown  precipitate  on  the  addition  of  a  slight 
excess  of  basic  lead  acetate.  The  lead  precipitate  was  collected, 
thoroughly  washed,  then  suspended  in  water,  and  decomposed  by 
hydrogen  sulphide.  After  removing  the  lead  sulphide  by  filtration, 
the  filtrate  was  concentrated  under  diminished  pressure  to  a  small 
volume.  The  concentrated  licjuid  was  light  yellow,  gave  a  faint 
brown  coloration  with  ferric  chloride,  and,  after  standing  for  some 
