Am.  Tour.  Pharm.  )  New   SoilTCe    of   SafltOflifl.  263 
April,  1921.  S 
was  then  used  to  wash  the  niters.    After  drying,  both  flasks  and 
filters  were  weighed.    The  total  amount  of  crystals  thus  obtained 
was  0.85  Gm.    They  were  slightly  brownish  in  color,  and  were 
purified  by  recrystallizing  from  diluted  alcohol  and  decolorizing 
with  a  little  animal  charcoal ;  they  were  then  quite  colorless.  Dried 
at  ioo°,  they  melted  at  1700,  which  is  the  melting-point  of  santonin. 
A  mixture  of  the  crystals  with  commercial  santonin  melted  at 
169.500.      Warmed  with  alcoholic  potash,  a  violet  solution  was 
obtained.    A  little  warmed  in  a  water-bath,  with  5  c.  c.  of  a  mixture 
of  equal  volumes  of  sulphuric  acid  and  water,  to  which  a  trace 
of  ferric  chloride  had  been  added,  gave  a  yellow  color  and  slowly 
passing  to  orange,  red,  violet,  and  lavender.    These  two  color  reac- 
tions are  characteristic  of  santonin,  and  taken  in  conjunction  with 
the  melting-point,  leave  no  doubt  that  the  crystalline  substance  is 
santonin.    Allowing  for  the  unavoidable  loss  during  the  extraction 
and  for  that  which  is  retained  in  the  dilute  alcoholic  solution  after 
separation  of  the  crystals,  the  material  under  examination  probably 
contains  about  1  per  cent,  of  that  substance. 
As  far  as  it  is  at  present  known,  santonin  is  not  widely  dis- 
tributed in  the  genus  Artemisia.  Apart  from  A.  maritima,  var.  a, 
Stechmanniana,  Besser,  the  unexpanded  flower-heads  of  which  con- 
stitute commercial  santonica  and  contain  from  2  to  3  per  cent.,  it  has 
been  found  only  in  A.  gallica,  Willd.,  which  is  common  in  France.3 
Arrangements  are  now  being  made  for  the  collection  of  roots, 
leaves,  and  flowers  of  A.  brevifolia  at  varying  stages  of  develop- 
ment, in  order  to  determine  in  which  part  of  the  plant  and  at  what 
period  the  highest  percentage  of  santonin  is  to  be  found.  The 
results  of  the  examination  of  this  material  will  be  reported  in  due 
course. 
In  view  of  the  high  price  of  santonin  and  the  scarcity  of  the 
drug,  the  possibility  of  obtaining  a  supply  from  material  growing 
wild  and  in  quantity  within  the  bounds  of  the  empire  must  be 
regarded  as  a  matter  of  importance. 
3Heckel  and  Schlagdenhauffen,  Comptes  Rendus,  Vol.  100,  p.  804  (1885). 
