Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1888. 
JamhuL 
369 
ery,  varying  between  oval  and  obovate  oblong  and  between  acuminate 
and  very  obtuse,  the  West  Indian  form  being  rounded  at  the  apex. 
They  have  an  aromatic  odor  and  taste. 
The  fruit  unless  improved  by  cultivation  is  about  the  size  and  shape 
of  an  olive  of  a  })urple  color  and  very  astringent ;  within  it  is  a  thin 
white  papery  shell  which  encloses  a  large  green  kernel,  also  very 
astringent.  The  epidermis  is  smooth,  shining  and  very  thin,  and  can 
readily  be  removed  by  scratching ;  within  it  is  the  pulp  of  a  dark  red- 
dish color.  The  seed  when  fresh  is  of  a  pinkish  color,  which  becomes 
brown  on  drying.  The  rind  of  the  fruit  is  said  to  contain  the 
active  principle  (Year-Book  of  Pharmacy,  1886,  p.  208).  The 
powdered  seeds  are  highly  useful  in  diabetes  (Khory's  "  Ind.  Mat. 
Med.^') 
The  jambul  operated  upon  in  the  following  notes  was  presented  to 
the  Materia  Medica  Museum  of  the  Owens  College  last  year  by  Mr. 
Thomas  Christy,  of  London.  It  consisted  of  the  dried  kernels  of 
the  seeds,  which  had  been  cut  in  half  transversely,  apparently  to  facil- 
itate the  process  of  drying.  The  ovoid  pieces  were  about  the  size  of 
large  peas,  of  a  dull  earthy-brown  color  with  a  dry  earthy  fracture, 
resembling  in  appearance  fragments  of  pale  catechu  ( Uncaria  Gambier); 
odor  slightly  aromatic. 
Moisture. — Ten  grams  reduced  to  a  fine  powder  and  exposed  in  a 
porcelain  dish  to  the  temperature  of  a  water-bath  until  it  ceased  to 
lose  weight  lost  1*02  gr.=10'2  per  cent. 
Ash. — The  dried  residue  from  above,  thoroughly  incinerated  in  a 
platinum  dish,  left  an  ash  weighing  -25  gr.=2-5  per  cent,  upon  the 
original  substance. 
/.  Petroleum  Ether  Extract. — Twenty  grams  of  the  original  substance 
reduced  to  .fine  powder  was  made  up  to  100  cc.  with  petroleum  ether 
and  macerated  for  forty-eight  hours  with  frequent  agitation.  The 
clear  liquid  was  poured  ofp  and  the  residue  thrown  upon  a  filter,  and 
filtration  continued  by  the  addition  of  fresh  ether  until  the  filtrate 
measured  100  cc.  The  latter  was  of  a  yellowish-green  color,  and  20 
cc.  evaporated  upon  a  water-bath  until  free  from  the  solvent  gave  a 
residue  of  -015  gr.='37  per  cent.,  consisting  of  chlorophyll  and  fat 
free  from  odor. 
Experiments  with  other  portions  of  the  extract  gave  evidence  of  the 
presence  of  a  mere  trace  of  an  exceedingly  volatile  oil,  the  odoriferous 
principle. 
