OBSERVATIONS ON MYRRH. 
177 
According to this analysis therefore the myrrh contained 
in 100 parts — 
Essential oil - - - - - 2.183 
Resin 44.760 
Gum (arabine) - 40.818 
Water 1.475 
Impurities 3.862 
Carb. of lime with carbonate of magnesia 3.650 
Some gypsum and peroxide of iron - 
96.748 
Myrrhole undergoes decomposition by exposure to the 
air, as does also the resin when heated either alone or with 
water. It is probable therefore that the Extractum myrrhx 
aquosum contains an altered resin. It is also probable 
that the semiresin discovered by Brandes, and also that 
called by Bonastre subresin, were formed in the course of 
the analysis by the decomposition of the myrrhine. From 
the formulae obtained, the transition of the oil into the resin 
is readily apparent. If we double the number of the equi- 
valents we have — 
Myrrh C 44 H 33 4 
Myrrhine - C 4B H 32 10 
Myrrhicacid - C 48 H 32 8 
The quantity of oxygen is, according to this, smaller in 
the acid resin than in the neutral one; the latter probably 
contains a portion of its oxygen and hydrogen in the state 
of water. The balsam is, at all events, a mixture of oil 
and resin, and forms the transition from the former into the 
latter. — Lond. Chem. Gaz. from Archiv. der Pharm. 
16* 
