Am,jine?i895arm'}  The  Tannin  of  Cloves.  305 
to  evaporate  spontaneously.  The  residue  left  upon  evaporation  was 
dissolved  in  water  and  the  solution  tested  with  these  reagents  : 
Calcium  hydrate,  brown  color. 
Ferric  chloride,  blue  color,  changing  to  green  precipitate. 
Ferric  acetate,  greenish-black  color. 
Ferrous  sulphate,  blue  color;  slight  precipitate. 
Action  of  Fused  Alkali. — 0  5  gramme  of  tannin  were  gradually- 
added  to  potassium  hydrate  in  the  state  of  fusion.  When  first 
brought  into  contact  with  the  alkali,  the  tannin  swelled  into  a 
white,  spongy  mass,  but,  upon  stirring,  it  readily  mixed  with  the 
fused  alkali  and  produced  a  brown  solution.  During  this  treatment, 
which  was  conducted  for  twenty  minutes,  an  odor  similar  to  that 
noticed  in  soap-making  was  emitted. 
The  products  of  the  fusion  were  allowed  to  cool,  and  afterwards 
dissolved  in  water.  The  solution  was  neutralized  with  dilute  sul- 
phuric acid,  and  shaken  several  times  with  successive  portions  of 
ether.  The  ethereal  layers  were  mixed  and  the  bulk  of  solvent 
recovered  by  distillation.  The  last  portion  was  allowed  to  evapo- 
rate spontaneously.  It  left  a  residue,  the  water  solution  of  which 
gave  the  following  reactions  : 
Potassium  cyanide,  red  color,  fading,  but  upon  agitation  was  restored. 
Potassium  hydrate,  red  color. 
Ferric  chloride,  blue  color,  changing  to  green  precipitate. 
Ferrous  sulphate,  violet  color. 
Ammoniacal  silver  nitrate,  reduced. 
Fehling's  solution,  reduced. 
Lead  oxyacetate,  precipitate. 
Lead  acetate,  precipitate,  nitrate  giving  white  ppt.  with  lead  oxyacetate. 
Pine  shaving  and  HC1,  no  violet  or  red  color. 
Acetyl  Derivative. — 0-250  gramme  of  the  tannin  were  boiled 
with  acetic  anhydride  for  an  hour.  The  resulting  solution  was  then 
poured  into  water,  which  caused  the  precipitation  of  a  gummy 
mass  that  became  hard  and  brittle  upon  standing  in  contact  with 
the  water.  This  mass  had  a  brown  color.  When  dried  and  pow- 
dered it  was  found  to  have  a  melting  point  of  145  0  C. 
Ultimate  Analysis. — While  the  reactions  afforded  by  the  products 
of  the  several  treatments  to  which  the  tannin  was  subjected  were  in 
no  case  distinctly  indicative  of  any  of  the  four  substances  to  be 
expected  from  the  decomposition  of  the  two  classes  of  tannin,  still  they 
point  to  pyrogallol  and  gallic  acid — products  of  the  decomposition 
