Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
July, 1879.  J 
Note  on  Hyraceum. 
a  row  of  white  crystals,  arranged  in  radiating  groups.  The  crystals, 
were  too  small  for  mechanical  separation,  but  the  opinion  was  expressed 
that  they  were  succinellite. 
NOTE  ON  HYRACEUM. 
By  Wm.  H.  Greene,  M.D.,  and  A.  J.  Parker,  M.D. 
Among  the  native  remedies  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  exhibited1 
at  the  Centennial  Exhibition,  was  a  peculiar  substance  called  hyraceum,. 
which  was  supposed  to  be  the  inspissated  urine  of  the  Cape  Hyrax 
(Hyrax  capensis). 
The  material  was  obtained  from  Dr.  Leidy,  who,  in  the  "  Proceedings 
of  the  Academy,"  December,  1876,  p.  325,  gave  a  short  account  of  it. 
According  to  this  account,  "the  hyrax  is  reputed  to  inhabit  gregari- 
ously rocky  places  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  the  accumulated 
urine  in  the  hollows  of  rocks,  graduallv  evaporating,  is  supposed  to 
give  rise  to  the  product  in  question.  It  is  reported  as  having  been 
employed  in  medicine  with  the  same  effect  as  castoreum." 
Prof.  Cope  remarked  that  "a  material  resembling  the  concretion 
made  by  the  urine  of  the  hyrax  was  found  in  the  fissures  of  the  rocks 
of  New  Mexico.  It  is  probably  the  fecal  and  renal  deposit  of  the 
wild  rat,  Neotoma." 
About  two  years  ago  we  made  an  exhaustive  examination  of  this  sub- 
stance. It  is  a  dark-brown,  brittle  and  resinous  material,  having  an 
aromatic  odor  and  a  bitter  taste.  About  56  per  cent,  of  it  is  soluble 
in  water,  and  nearly  one-third  of  the  residue  from  the  aqueous  extrac- 
tion is  soluble  in  alcohol,  ether  and  chloroform. 
The  soluble  material  amounts  in  all  to  about  70  per  cent.,  and  the 
remainder  is  composed  of  14  per  cent,  of  woody  fiber  and  insoluble 
organic  material,  and  16  per  cent,  of  sand  and  other  inorganic  sub- 
stances. 
On  ignition,  hyraceum  yields  about  34  per  cent,  of  ash,  which  is 
composed  of  chlorides,  sulphates,  phosphates  and  carbonates  of  the 
alkaline  metals,  and  of  lime  and  magnesia.  It  also  contains  nitrates  in 
small  proportion. 
On  precipitating  the  organic  material  contained  in  the  aqueous 
extract  with  lead  acetate,  and  afterwards  decomposing  the  suspended 
precipitate  by  means  of  sulphuric  acid,  a  substance  was  obtained  which 
