324  Solid  Hydrocarbons  in  Plants.  {^"''/uiy^'im''"'' 
The  announcement  of  this  discovery  was  reserved  until  it  should  be 
confirmed  by  further  study.  But  a  paper  describing  generally  the 
occurrence  of  crystalline  compounds  rich  in  carbon  was  read,  by  title, 
last  summer  before  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science.^  This  inference  has  been  put  beyond  doubt  by  the  further 
study  of  the  compound  from  Cascara  amarga  and  Phlox  Carolina 
during  the  past  winter,  obtained  from  an  additional  supply  of  these  drugs. 
Twenty-five  kilos  of  Cascara  amarga  were  extracted  and  the 
residue  purified  by  often  repeated  fractional  crystallizations,  from  which 
the  following  results  were  obtained: 
0-1058  grms.  gave  0-3413  C  O2  and  0-1133  H2O. 
0  1113  grms.  gave  0-3588  C  O2  and  0-1193  H2O. 
I.  II. 
C.  87-97  87-8» 
H.  11-89  11-90 
99-86  99-79 
From  the  plants  mentioned  at  the  beginning  of  this  paper  in  which 
this  crystalline  principle  exists,  the  Phlox  Carolina  was  also  selected 
as  the  one  to  confirm  still  further  the  presence  and  identity  of  this 
principle  and  its  chemical  composition. 
Recently  about  15  kilos  of  this  drug  were  exhausted  and  the  com- 
pound separated  and  repeatedly  purified.  Its  ultimate  analyses  gave 
the  following: 
0-1117  giTQs.  gave  0-3600  C  O2  and  0-1208  H2O. 
0-1314  grms.  gave  0*4228  C  O2  and  0-1421  H2O. 
I.  11.     Theory  for  (CnHig)^ 
C.  87-90  87-76  88-00 
H.  12-02  12-02  12  00 
99-93  99-78  foo^ 
The  above  results  indicate  that  this  compound  is  an  unsaturated 
hydrocarbon,  and  we  intend  to  make  it  the  subject  of  a  thorough 
chemical  investigation  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  its  chemical  consti- 
tution. 
^yhilst  the  discovery  of  the  hydrocarbon  resulted  from  independent 
investigations  on  difi'erent  plants,  we  are  agreed  that  the  identity  of  the 
compounds  justify  us  in  publishing  together  these  results  of  our  studies. 
Philadelphia,  June  20th,  1888. 
1  By  Helen  C.  De  S.  Abbott,  New  York,  August,  1887. 
