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THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
JULY,  1886. 
ON  THE  BITTER  PRINCIPLE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  CRAN- 
BERRY (YACCINIUM  M  AC  ROC  ARPON,  LIN.) 
By  Edo  Claassen. 
The  existence  of  arbutin  in  the  cowberry  ( V xccinium  Vitis  Idcea, 
Lin.)  was  announced  by  me  in  No.  7,  vol.  57,  of  this  Journal.  On 
account  of  this  fact  it  was  thought  to  be  not  only  possible  but  proba- 
ble, that  the  same  principle  would  also  exist  in  the  American  cran- 
berry, a  plant  in  botanical  respect  similar  to  the  first-named  (although 
not  belonging  to  the  same  sub-genus,  to  Vitis  Idcea,  Tourn.,  but  to  the 
subgenus  Oxycoccos,  Tourn.).  .  This  supposition  seemed  to  be  corrob- 
orated by  the  bitter  taste  of  the  fruit  and  by  the  blue  colored  liquid, 
which  an  extract  of  it  gave  with  phosphomolybdic  acid  and  ammonia 
(a  reaction,  said  in  No.  5,  vol.  43,  of  this  Journal,  to  be  peculiar  to 
and  indicating  the  presence  of  arbutin).  Although  I  had  failed  already 
once  (see  No.  7,  vol.  57,  of  this  Journal)  to  find  arbutin  in  the  ber- 
ries, I  undertook  again  the  work  and  the  trial,  to  separate  arbutin  from 
the  branches  and  leaves  of  this  shrub  as  well  as  also  from  the  berries, 
in  order  to  get  at  least,  if  no  arbutin  should  be  found,  a  clear  idea 
and  an  exact  knowledge  of  the  nature  of  the  bitter  principle  in  it. 
As  the  cranberry  does  not  grow  in  this  vicinity,  Professor  John  M. 
Maisch  was  kind  enough  to  furnish  me  about  8  pounds  of  the  dry 
shrub,  a  quantity  more  than  sufficient  to  make  the  necessary  investi- 
gation. With  the  intention  to  also  ascertain  at  the  same  time  the  pre- 
sence in  it  of  kinic  acid,  I  divided  the  whole  quantity  received  into  two 
parts  and  subjected  them  to  the  following  experiments : 
Experiment  1. — One  portion  of  the  branches  and  leaves  was  boiled 
with  water  for  half  an  hour-  the  liquid  was  separated  by  straining 
through  a  cloth,  then  somewhat  concentrated  by  evaporation,  acidu- 
lated with  acetic  acid,  precipitated  with  neutral  lead  acetate,  the  liquid 
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