304 
Asarone. 
Am.  Jour.  Pbarm. 
June,  1888. 
as  regards  consistence,  etc.,  quite  equal  to  those  by  acacia,  but  prefera- 
ble as  to  color,  being  of  almost  pure  snowy  whiteness.  On  micro- 
scopical examination  the  oil  particles  in  the  emulsion  made  with  ghatti 
and  tw^o  parts  of  oil  appear  as  nearly  as  possible  identical  in  size  with 
those  given  by  acacia  and  one  part,  or  half  the  quantity,  of  oil. 
After  standing  fifteen  days  the  ghatti'^  emulsions  showed  no  sepa- 
ration of  oil,  and  since  the  mucilage  was  made  with  double  th«  pro- 
portion of  water  used  for  acacia  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the 
emulsive  power  of  the  gum  is  very  remarkable. 
The  prevention,  or  long  delaying,  of  the  chemical  reaction  between 
mercuric  chloride  and  calcium  hydrate  in  the  presence  of  acacia  mucil- 
age is  well  known,  and  experiments  were  made  to  ascertain  if  ghatti 
also  possessed  this  power.  That  it  does  so  in  a  very  striking  degree  is 
evident  from  the  mixtures  before  you.  A  is  quite  clear,  without  any 
trace  of  precipitate,  being  made  by  adding  a  little  diluted  ghatti 
mucilage  before  the  lime  water;  while  B  contains  the  same  propor- 
tions of  in  gredients,  but  has  the  characteristic  appearance  of  lotio 
hydrargyri  flava,  the  mucilage  being  added  after  reaction  had  taken 
place. 
I  regret  not  having  had  opportunity  to  continue  testing  the  properties 
of  this  gum,  but  from  these  facts  it  is  evident  that  there  is  an  article 
commercially  obtainable  at  a  low  price  which,  though  differing  consid- 
erably in  appearance  from  the  Acacise  Gummi  of  the  Pharmacopoeia, 
possesses  in  a  marked  degree  many  characters  which  have  been  sup- 
posed to  be  peculiar  to  it.  If  more  care  were  taken  in  the  gathering 
and  selection  there  seems  to  be  little  doubt  that  picked  qualities  would 
speedily  rise  to  considerable  commercial  value  and  pharmaceutical  in- 
terest. 
ASARONE. 
By  B.  EizzA  and  A.  Butlerow.* 
In  1884  asarone  was  investigated  by  the  authors  (Am.  Jour.  Phar., 
1885,  p.  354),  and  found  to  be  an  unsaturated  compound,  containing 
three    methoxyl-groups.    The   molecular    formula,  CigHigOs,  was 
*  J.  Russ.  Chem.  Soc,  1887,  p. 12;  reprinted  from  Jour.  Chem.  Soc.,  1888, 
p.  458. 
