AmjuuUe?iF95arm'}  Anatolian  Licorice  Root.  311 
Action  of  Acetone. — Acetone  was  applied  to  each  of  the  varieties 
of  licorice  previously  mentioned.  The  treatment  was  continued 
until  exhaustion  was  complete.  After  recovering  the  greater  quan- 
tity of  the  solvent  by  distillation,  the  extracts  were  evaporated  to 
constant  weights  on  a  water-bath. 
The  extract  from  the  Persian  variety  equalled  5-07  per  cent.  It 
was  transparent  and  of  a  bright,  ruby  red  color.  The  Anatolian  root 
yielded  23-84  per  cent,  of  an  extract  that  was  much  darker  than  the 
extract  of  the  Persian  variety.  7-02  per  cent,  of  extract  was  ob- 
tained from  the  Spanish  licorice  root.  This  extract  was  lighter 
in  color  than  any  of  the  others  obtained  from  the  four  varieties  of 
root. 
The  Turkish  root  furnished  an  extract  that  was  darkest  in  color. 
It  amounted  to  14-06  per  cent. 
A  quantity  of  the  Anatolian  root  was  treated  with  alcohol,  sp.  gr. 
•820,  until  exhausted.  The  amount  of  extract  removed  by  this  sol- 
vent was  1374  per  cent.,  as  against  23-84  per  cent,  extracted  by 
acetone. 
Tannin. — The  statement  in  Hanbury  and  Fluckiger's  Pharmaco- 
graphia,  that  "  a  trace  of  tannin  is  found  in  the  outer  bark  of  lico- 
rice," led  to  some  experiments  by  which  the  validity  of  that  asser- 
tion might  be  tested. 
A  quantity  of  the  outer  bark  of  each  of  the  four  previously 
named  varieties  of  the  root  was  carefully  scraped  off.  From  these 
scrapings  infusions  were  made  by  the  use  of  cold  water.  The  fil- 
tered liquids  reacted  as  follows  :  Ferric  chloride,  no  precipitates ; 
ammonio-ferric  sulphate,  slightly  dark  precipitates ;  gelatin  and 
alum  afforded  slight  precipitates  with  the  infusions,  but  others  of 
the  same  character  were  obtained  upon  the  addition  of  alum  alone  ; 
dilute  sulphuric  or  hydrochloric  acid  produced  precipitates  resemb- 
ling very  closely  those  caused  by  alum. 
When  these  several  reagents  were  applied  to  decoctions  prepared 
from  the  outer  bark  by  the  use  of  hot  water,  the  same  reactions  were 
shown.. 
To  further  investigate  the  possible  presence  of  tannin,  a  decoction 
was  made  from  a  lot  of  ground  drug  that  represented  the  entire 
root  ;  the  reagents,  even  when  applied  to  this,  failed  to  detect  tan- 
nin. It  may,  therefore,  be  concluded  that  there  is  no  tannin  in 
licorice  root. 
