178  Constituents  of  Taraxacum  Root.  {AmAp0rn''i9i^arm' 
filter.  A  small  amount  of  substance  was  thus  collected,  which 
proved  to  be  the  potassium  salt  of  a  fatty  acid.  The  acid  was 
liberated,  dissolved  in  chloroform,  and  crystallised  from  ethyl 
acetate,  when  it  melted  at  87.5 — 88.50,  and  amounted  to  0.1  gram: 
0.0821  gave  0.2399  COo  and  0.0983  H20.   C  =  79.7;  H  =  13.3. 
C30H60O2  requires  C  =  79.7;  H  =  13.3  per  cent. 
The  small  remaining  portion  of  the  acid  was  converted  into  its 
methyl  ester,  which,  after  crystallisation  from  alcohol,  melted  at 
72-73°. 
The  above-described  acid  was  thus  identified  as  melissic  acid, 
which,  so  far  as  is  known  to  us,  has  never  previously  been  obtained 
directly  from  a  plant. 
The  aqueous  alkaline  liquid  from  which  the  unsaponifiable 
material  had  been  removed  by  extraction  with  ether,  as  above 
described,  was  acidified  and  again  extracted  with  ether.  This 
ethereal  liquid  was  dried,  the  solvent  removed,  and  the  residual 
fatty  acids  converted  into  their  methyl  esters.  The  latter,  when 
distilled  under  diminished  pressure,  passed  over  between  1800  and 
270 °/9  mm.,  and  amounted  to  about  55  grams.  They  were  optically 
inactive.  The  esters  were  then  hydrolysed,  and  the  resulting 
product,  which  consisted  of  a  mixture  of  saturated  and  unsaturated 
acids,  was  separated  into  liquid  and  solid  portions  by  means  of  the 
lead  salts. 
The  Liquid  Acids. — These  acids,  when  distilled  under  diminished 
pressure,  passed  over  between  2150  and  265°/i8  mm.,  and  amounted 
to  about  40  grams.  An  analysis  and  a  determination  of  the  iodine 
value  gave  the  following  results : 
0.1343  gave  0.3800  C02  and  0.1393  H20.    C  =  77.2 ;  H  =  11.5. 
0.3100  absorbed  0.4448  iodine.    Iodine  value  =  143.5. 
C18H3402  requires  C=y6.6;  H=i2.i  per  cent.    Iodine  value=  90.1. 
C18H3202      "      C=77.i;  H=n.4  "     "         "        "  =181.4. 
C18H30O2      "      C=777;H=io.8  "     "         «        "  =274.1. 
The  above  results  would  indicate  that  the  liquid  acids  consisted 
chiefly  of  a  mixture  of  oleic  and  linolic  acids,  with  possibly  a  little 
linolenic  acid. 
The  Solid  Acids. — These  acids,  which  amounted  to  10  grams, 
were  fractionally  crystallised  from  ethyl  acetate.    The  least  soluble 
