1 54  The  Chemistry  of  Gurjun  Balsam.     { VCisso!™' 
Concentrated  Sulphuric  Acid  dissolved  the  balsams  with  yellowish- 
brown  color,  and  this  solution  with  five  to  ten  volumes  of  water  gave 
a  white  milk;  with  three  to  five  volumes  of  alcohol,  a  flesh-colored 
mixture  passing  into  violet. 
Alcoholic  Hydrochloric  Acid  {i.e.  95  per  cent,  alcohol  saturated  with 
gaseous  HCl.)  yielded  with  the  balsam  a  yellowish-red  tincture,  which 
on  the  addition  of  alcohol  became  violet. 
Petroleum  Spirit  dissolved  incompletely. 
Chloral  Reagent^  colored  both  balsams,  as  well  as  the  residue  left  on 
evaporating  the  petroleum  spirit  solution,  deep  green. 
To  allow  of  an  easy  comparison  of  the  reactions  previously,  and 
those  now  obtained,  I  have  tabulated  the  results  as  follows  : 
Gurjun  Balsam, 
Hamberg's  Gurjun  "  Archiv  d.  Pharm.," 
Balsam.  vii,  6,  1877. 
Ether,      .        .        .  Solution  incomplete,  Incomplete. 
Alcohol,     .       .  u  «  « 
Ether-Alcohol,        .  "       opalescent.  Perfectly  clear. 
Chloroform,        .  "       clear.  Incomplete. 
Solution  of  Bromine,  Green  coloration.  Yellowish  coloration. 
Chloral  Reagent,  Green.  Green. 
Flvickiger's  Reagent,  Violet  coloration.  Bright  yellow  coloration. 
As  will  be  seen  from  the  above  table  the  two  samples  of  true  balsam 
now  examined  differ  from  the  one  previously  experimented  upon:  (i)  in 
the  Fllickiger  reaction;  (ii)  they  are  completely  soluble  in  chloroform, 
and  (iii)  give  with  solution  of  bromine  a  green  coloration.  The  slight 
difference  between  Professor  Hamberg's  sample  and  that  from  a  chemist 
in  this  town  is  due,  I  am  convinced,  to  the  presence  of  alcohol  in  the 
latter,  for  if  it  be  freed  therefrom  by  distillation  the  two  give  identical 
reactions. 
The  true  gurjun  balsam  differs  from  copaiva  balsam: 
(i)  in  the  violet  coloration  produced  by  Fllickiger's  reagent  in  the 
bisulphide  of  carbon  solution  ; 
(ii)  in  the  incomplete  solubility  in  ether  (copaiva  balsam  gives  a  clear 
solution  ; 
(iii)  in  the  negative  behavior  of  acetate  of  lead  to  the  alcoholic  solu- 
tion. (Copaiva  balsam  gives  a  cloudiness  which  on  warming  disap- 
pears.)— Pharm.  Jour,  and  Trans..,  J^"-?  i88o,  p.  561  and  606. 
^"Archiv  der  Pharmacie,"  vii,  6,  1877. 
