302 
CJiimapJiila  Umbellata. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pnarm. 
I       June,  1892. 
but  when  heated  on  platinum  foil  fused  to  a  clear  liquid,  and  then 
volatilized  in  white  clouds.  They  were  odorless  and  tasteless,  insol- 
uble in  alcohol  except,  as  above  stated,  in  the  presence  of  chloro- 
phyll, sparingly  soluble  in  cold  absolute  alcohol  and  chloroform, 
but  dissolved  in  both  liquids  when  boiling  ;  the  crystals  readily 
dissolved  in  ether,  benzol  and  benzin.  '  Sulphuric  acid  gave  a  yel- 
low color,  which  was  changed  to  red  by  nitric  acid.  Neither  alco- 
holic nor  aqueous  solution  of  potassium  hydrate  caused  a  change  of 
color.  Cold  glacial  acetic  acid  did  not  dissolve  the  crystals  to  an 
appreciable  extent,  but  they  were  freely  soluble  in  it  when  hot,  and 
from  this  solution  were  precipitated  apparently  unchanged  by  water. 
Boiling  nitric  acid  showed  no  evidence  of  action  upon  it.  Sul- 
phuric acid  and  potassium  bichromate  gave  a  purple  color, 
changing  to  green,  as  the  action  continued. 
Owing  to  the  small  amount  of  this  substance  obtained,  the 
recrystallizations  could  not  be  carried  to  a  point  to  justify  the 
calculation  of  a  formula  from  the  results  obtained  by  an  ultimate 
analysis.  However,  for  sake  of  satisfaction,  a  combustion  was 
made  of  it,  the  following  results  being  obtained  : 
Carbon,   84*05 
Hydrogen,  11 72 
Oxygen,   4-23 
The  special  characters  of  this  substance,  then,  are  as  follows: 
High  melting  point,  stability,  slight  solubility  in  alcohol,  high 
percentage  of  carbon  and  a  low  percentage  of  oxygen  which  would 
give  the  compound  a  very  complex  formula.  The  oxygen,  of 
course,  was  estimated  indirectly,  and  its  presence  may  be  due  to 
admixture  of  this  with  other  substances,  which  would  also  lower  the 
amount  of  carbon  in  the  result  obtained  by  combustion. 
Until  this  substance  is  further  purified,  investigation  of  it  must  be 
considered  as  incomplete.  However,  the  properties  of  it  when 
generally  considered,  have  suggested  the  idea  that  it  may  possibly 
prove  to  be  one  of  those  solid  hydrocarbons  occurring  in  plants 
which  were  mentioned  for  the  first  time  by  Helen  C.  De  S.  Abbott 
and  Henry  Trimble  in  this  journal  for  July,  1888. 
Solubility,  behavior  towards  reagents  and  other  properties  dis- 
tinguish these  three  crystalline  substances  from  all  previously 
known  ones  occurring  in  the  hricaceae. 
