12 
Rliizome  of  Iris  Versicolor. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I     January,  1911. 
Ethereal  Extract  of  the  Resin. 
This  was  a  hard,  black,  brittle  mass,  and  amounted  to  226 
grammes.  It  was  digested  with  a  large  volume  of  ether,  when  a 
small  portion  of  the  resin  (2  grammes)  was  found  to  be  sparingly 
soluble  in  that  solvent.  The  ethereal  liquid  was  therefore  filtered, 
and  the  undissolved  portion  separately  examined.  It  was  found  to 
consist  of  ipuranol,  C^gH^^O^,  which  was  identified  by  means  of  its 
diacetyl  derivative,  melting  at  161-162°.  This  substance  had 
already  been  isolated  from  the  petroleum  extract  of  the  resin. 
The  ethereal  liquid,  from  which  the  ipuranol  had  been  removed 
by  filtration,  was  then  successively  extracted  with  aqueous  solutions 
of  ammonium  carbonate,  sodium  carbonate,  and  sodium  hydroxide 
respectively.  The  ammonium  carbonate  and  sodium  carbonate  solu- 
tions extracted  only  small  quantities  of  amorphous,  brown  resins, 
from  which  no  definite  compound  was  isolated.  The  aqueous 
sodium  hydroxide,  on  the  other  hand,  extracted  practically  the  whole 
of  the  resin  as  a  thick,  black  liquid,  a  small  quantity  of  the  alkali 
being  sufficient  to  extract  a  comparatively  large  amount  of  the  resin, 
thus  indicating  that  the  latter  possesses  a  very  high  molecular  weight. 
On  acidifying  the  alkaline  extract,  a  brown,  amorphous  solid  was 
precipitated,  which  was  readily  soluble  in  ether  and  alcohol.  All 
attempts  to  isolate  a  crystalline  compound  from  it  were,  however, 
unsuccessful.  In  order  to  ascertain  whether  the  resin  was  glucosidic 
in  character,  a  portion  of  it  was  heated  for  some  time  in  alcoholic 
solution  with  dilute  aqueous  sulphuric  acid.  On  removing  the  alco- 
hol in  a  current  of  steam  a  quantity  of  resinous  matter  separated, 
which  was  collected  and  examined,  but  it  yielded  nothing  crystalline. 
The  aqueous  liquid,  after  being  freed  from  sulphuric  acid  by  means 
of  baryta  was  concentrated  and  tested  for  the  presence  of  sugar, 
but  with  a  negative  result.  The  portion  of  resin  extracted  by  ether 
is  therefore  non-glucosidic. 
The  ethereal  liquid  which  had  been  shaken  with  alkalies,  as  above 
described,  was  washed,  dried,  and  the  solvent  removed,  when  a  small 
quantity  of  a  thick  oil  was  obtained.  This  was  found  to  be  similar 
in  character  to  the  petroleum  extract  of  the  resin,  which  had  already 
been  exhaustively  examined. 
Chloroform,  Ethyl  Acetate,  and  Alcohol  Extracts  of  the  Resin. 
These  were  all  black,  brittle  resins,  and  were  small  in  amount. 
They  were  each  carefully  examined,  but  nothing  of  a  crystalline 
