176  Constituents  of  Taraxacum  Root.  j 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1913. 
Another  portion  of  the  substance  was  dissolved  in  absolute 
alcohol,  and  a  solution  of  platinic  chloride  added.  The  resulting 
precipitate  was  collected,  washed  with  a  little  alcohol,  and  dissolved 
in  a  small  amount  of  water.  After  keeping  for  some  time,  reddish- 
brown  plates  were  deposited,  which  melted  and  decomposed  at 
250— 2540 : 
0.0460,  when  heated  at  no°,  lost  0.0010  H20.    H20  =  2.2. 
0.0450  2  gave  on  ignition  0.0143  Pt.    Pt  =  31.8. 
0.0844  2  gave  on  ignition  0.0269  Pt-    Pt  =  31.9. 
(C5H14ONCl)2PtCl4,H20  requires  H20  =  2.8  per  cent. 
(C5H14ONCl)2PtCl4  requires  Pt  =  31.7  per  cent. 
The  occurrence  of  choline  as  a  constituent  of  taraxacum  root 
has  thus  been  established. 
Examination  of  the  Resin  (B). 
The  crude  resinous  material  which  had  been  separated  from  the 
aqueous  liquid  (A),  as  previously  described,  was  dissolved  in 
alcohol,  mixed  with  purified  sawdust,  and  the  thoroughly  dried 
mixture  extracted  successively  in  a  large  Soxhlet  apparatus  with 
various  solvents.  The  weights  of  the  products,  as  determined  by 
drying  small,  aliquot  portions  in  a  water-oven,  were  as  follows : 
Petroleum  (b.  p.  35 — 500)  extracted  329.6  grams. 
Ether    extracted    19.6  grams. 
Chloroform    extracted    10.0  grams. 
Ethyl  acetate    extracted    10.5  grams. 
Alcohol  .  . .   extracted    40.0  grams. 
Total   409.7  grams. 
As  the  above  amount  of  resin  was  obtained  from  7.3  kilograms 
of  the  original  alcoholic  extract,  it  is  equivalent  to  about  1.8  per 
cent,  of  resin  in  the  air-dried  root. 
Petroleum  Extract  of  the  Resin. 
Identification  of  the  Free  Fatty  Acids. 
After  the  removal  of  the  solvent  from  the  petroleum  extract  the 
residue  was  dissolved  in  ether,  and  the  ethereal  liquid  shaken  suc- 
cessively with  aqueous  ammonium  carbonate,  sodium  carbonate. 
a  Anhydrous  substance. 
* 
