20 
Researches  upon  Buchu. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Jan. 1876. 
same  reactions  as  with  that  obtained  by  distilling  the  buchu  with  water. 
With  this  experiment  the  investigation  was  left  at  rest,  until  this 
Fall,  when  it  was  again  taken  taken  up,  and  whilst  engaged  in  it,  Mr, 
Wm.  M.  Thompson,  of  W.  H.  Merrell  &  Co.,  brought  me  as  curios- 
ity a  few  crystals  of  a  substance  that  he  said  was  obtained  in  attempting 
to  distill  off  the  alcohol  from  a  lot  of  buchu  magma.  I  immediately 
recognized  them  as  being  the  same  substance  I  found  in  the  two  last 
experiments  ;  and  learning  from  him  that  the  whole  was  just  about  the 
same  as  the  mass  that  I  had  originally  distilled,  and  found  salicylic  acid 
in  the  oil,  I  made  a  request  of  Messrs.  W.  H.  Merrell  &  Co.,  through 
him,  that  the  same  be  placed  at  my  disposal,  to  which  they  kindly  con- 
sented. I  received  a  barrel  about  three-fourths  full  of  the  magma,  and 
distilled  it  with  water.  I  obtained  from  it  a  portion  or  all  of  the  alco- 
hol, and  by  continuing  the  distillation  and  cohobating  the  watery  distillate 
obtained  six  gallons  of  a  milky  distillate,  but  only  slight  traces  of  oil 
floating  upon  it.  This  distillate  was  set  aside  over  night,  and  upon 
examining  the  same  in  the  morning,  found  there  had  formed  nearly  two 
inches  deep  upon  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  holding  the  liquid,  a  mass 
of  long  needle-shaped  crystals,  some  an  inch  and  a  half  long ;  the 
supernatant  liquid  was  syphoned  off,  and  the  crystals  then  collected  on 
a  filter.  These  were  tested  as  the  former,  and  with  ferric  chloride  gave 
the  same  dark  bluish-black  color.  The  water  syphoned  off  also  gave 
the  same,  and  the  alcohol  distilled  from  the  magma  gave  the  same 
result.  I  obtained  no  oil  to  test  for  salicylic  acid,  and  could  not  detect 
it  in  any  of  the  distillates.  From  this  lot  of  buchu  I  have  obtained 
nearly  three  ounces  of  this  crystalline  body,  in  long  needle-shaped 
colorless  crystals,  having  an  odor  indicative  of  their  origin,  yet  different 
What  it  is,  I  am  not  yet  able  to  say,  but  shall  examine  it  more  fully 
and  report  at  some  future  time. 
Buchu,  from  what  has  been  shown,  evidently  contains  some  sub- 
stance, that  by  its  chemical  change,  will  yield  salicylic  acid,  and  proba- 
bly it  is  the  crystalline  body  I  have  found  in  the  three  last  experiments. 
This  is  sparingly  soluble  in  water  at  ordinary  temperatures,  freely  at 
the  boiling-point ;  which  solution  upon  cooling,  becomes  turbid  from 
separation  of  oil  drops,  which  afterwards  turn  to  crystals  soluble  in 
alcohol  and  ether  ;  and  the  aqueous  solution  with  ferric  chloride  forms 
an  intense,  I  may  say,  inky  blue  color,  so  intense  as  to  render  the 
solution  opapue  even  in  a  test  tube  half  an  inch  in  diameter. 
Nitrate  of  silver  also  occasions  a  precipitate  of  a  purplish  color, 
deeper  than  that  of  chloride  silver,  exposed  to  the  action  of  light. 
Cincinnati,  Dec,  1875. 
t 
