§ 244. Angelica root contains a volatile acid-Angelic acid-a bitter principle, a crystalline substance-Angelicine-a resinous substance, an essential oil, and other constituents. 8 Angelic Acid, CH,O2, forms transparent glittering prisms and needles, melting at 44° to 45° into an oil, which may be solidified at 0° into a crystalline solid. If the heat be raised up to 190° it boils and distils unchanged; it is inflammable, burning with a luminous flame. The acid reddens litmus, and has the odour of the root. It scarcely dissolves in cold water, but is soluble in hot, in alcohol, ether, turpentine, and the fatty oils. It forms salts with bases, which lose a part of the acid on evaporation. It precipitates lead and silver salts white; iron salts, dark yellow; and copper, bluish. By the aid of hydric iodide. and red phosphorus, acting at 180° to 200°, angelica acid is changed into valerianic. Melting the acid with KHO decomposes it into propionate and acetate of potash. 18 Angelicine is, according to Brunner, probably identical with hydrocarotin, a principle described by Husemann, found in the Daucus carota, L., and to which the following formula is ascribed, CgH300. Hydrocarotin, or angelicine, forms colourless, large, thin plates, without smell or taste, swimming in water, and becoming at 100° hard and brittle. At higher temperatures (120°-5) it melts without loss of weight to a yellow fluid, which solidifies as a resinous mass, and cannot be again crystallised. It is readily soluble in ether, chloroform, carbon bisulphide, benzine, oil of turpentine, and warm olive oil. It is not changed in colour by concentrated hydrochloric acid; fuming nitric acid dissolves it with the evolution of gas. Concentrated sulphuric acid dissolves it to a red fluid, depositing brownish-white flakes on dilution with water. Angelica Oil is colourless, and lighter than water; it has a penetrating odour and camphor-like taste, and resinifies on exposure to the air.* § 245. Oil of Coriander is a pale yellow oil, smelling like the fruit; of specific gravity 871 at 14°, and a portion distilling over at 150°. The volatile part corresponds to the formula * Bibliography. ALSCHER.-Ber. d. deutsch. Chem. Ges., 1869, 685. CHIOZZA.-Ann. Chim. Phys. [3], xxxix. 435. HUSEMANN. "Die Pflanzenstoffe." Berlin, 1871. JAFFE.-Ann. Chem. Pharm., cxxxv. 291. MAYER and ZENNER.-Ann. Chem. Pharm., lv. 317. C16H16H2O; the portion of a higher boiling point to 4C10H16H2O. If both portions are distilled with phosphoric anhydride, a powerfully odorous camphor, C10H16, is produced.* § 246. Oil of Juniper is contained in the unripe berries of the common juniper, in the proportion of from 4 to 75 per cent. It is colourless, or of a pale yellow, dissolving with turbidity in twelve parts of alcohol of 83 per cent. Miscible in all proportions with ether and bisulphide of carbon. Smell and taste mildly aromatic. Specific gravity 0-862 to 0.874, but the poorer commercial samples often have a specific gravity of 0.860. The perfectly colourless oil does not fulminate with iodine, but the commoner kinds explode powerfully. If from 5 to 6 drops of the oil be placed in a test-tube, and five times its bulk of sulphuric acid be added, much heat is developed with the evolution of vapour, and the fluid becomes dark yellow-red and turbid; on now diluting with 10 cc. of 90 per cent. alcohol, the colour changes to a somewhat dirty rose tint. The pure oil boils between 140° and 150°; it polarises to the left. On exposure to the air, oxygen is absorbed; and on long standing, colourless tables of juniper camphor are separated. This camphor melts and sublimes without decomposition, is easily soluble in ether and alcohol, and may be obtained in feathery crystals. The action of warm water on juniper oil, if kept up for some considerable time, results in the formation of a crystalline hydrate. Oil of juniper is officinal in all the Continental pharmacopoeias, as well as our own. In such large doses as from 15 to 30 grms., it is fatal to kittens, apparently acting in the same way as turpentine.‡ Sul § 247. Analysis of Gin.-The analyst should find in good gin at least 80 per cent. of proof spirit, and a variable amount of sugar and flavouring matters, seldom much over 5 or 6 per cent. phuric acid, sulphate of zinc, alum, and lead should always be looked for. Many writers seem to imagine that grains of paradise is an adulterant. It is, however, in its properties merely a HUSEMANN.-"Die Pflanzenstoffe." Berlin, 1871. It is said that the oil from the unripe fruit explodes, that from the fully ripe berries losing this property. + Bibliography. HIRSCH.-"Prüfung der Arzneimittel." Berlin, 1875. HUSEMANN.- "Die Pflanzenstoffe." Berlin, 1871. SIMON." De Olei Juniperi Berol.," 1841. Berlin Med. Ver. Ztg. 19, 1844. STEER. Chem. Centralbl., 1856-60. SOUBEIRAN et CAPITAINE.-Journ. Pharm. [2], xxvj. 78. pepper, and much nonsense has been talked about it. It is very doubtful whether any just conviction would be obtained for the addition of any harmless flavouring to the spirit; nearly all prosecutions hitherto have been for dilution, and for dilution only. It appears that no genuine gin* is sold to the retailer 22 under proof, but the standard fixed by the 6th section of the Amended Act (see p. 48) lays down the limit of 35 degrees under proof, and anything below this must be returned by the analyst as adulterated. The alcohol should be determined by distillation, as before described (p. 378), and the percentage in the distillate estimated by specific gravity, and, if necessary, in other ways. Neither methyl-alcohol nor fousel-oil appears to have been found in gin. The residue after the distillation may be treated with petroleum ether, benzine, &c., as in Dragendorff's process for the testing of beers. The essential oils will be taken up by the petroleum ether, and may be identified by their odour and taste, and (if enough is obtained) by their physical properties. Sulphuric acid, if in a free state, may be separated by quinine, as recommended under the article " Vinegar." The detection of alum, lead, and zinc is elsewhere described. ARRACK. § 248. The best qualities of arrack are manufactured by distillation of the fermented juice of the cocoa-nut tree, palmyra tree, and other palms; the coarser kinds are made from the distillation of fermented rice liquor. Arrack is nearly colourless, a slight tinge of yellow or brown being only observed in samples kept in casks for a length of time. The average strength and composition of arrack are as follows: In an appeal case (heard before the legal limit was fixed) before Baron Cleasby and Mr. Justice Grove (Fashler v. Stevenilt), the analyst proved that the gin was 44 degrees below proof. The judges affirmed the conviction. Baron Cleasby thought the conviction was right. When the respondent asked for gin he meant such gin as is ordinarily sold; and to sell him such gin as that in question was to sell, to the prejudice of the purchaser, gin which was not of the quality demanded. The amount of water proved to have been discovered with the gin afforded evidence that it had been added for the purpose of fraudulently increasing its measure. Mr. Justice Grove concurred; in his opinion, when it was proved that the gin contained so much more water than gin as ordinarily sold, the onus was thrown on the seller of proving that he was not aware of the state in which it was. The Hindoos and Malays consume large quantities of arrack. It would appear in the East to be occasionally drugged, and Indian hemp and the juice from solanaceous plants are said to be 'employed for this purpose. LIQUEURS OR CORDIALS. $249. The term cordial, liqueur, &c., is applied to a number of liquids which essentially consist of very strong spirit, flavoured with essences, and often very brightly coloured by vegetable colouring-agents, such as turmeric, cochineal, &c. Occasionally injurious colours are used, and salts of copper, picric acid, and impure aniline dyes have been detected. Of the liqueurs, absinthe is the most important in relation to health, and will be considered separately. The alcoholic strength and general composition of a few others are as follows: § 250. Absinthe is a yellowish-green liqueur, which contains, as a peculiar and distinctive ingredient, a poisonous oil having a deleterious action on the nervous system. 66 This, worm wood oil," is the produce of the "Artemisia absinthium." Other flavouring oils are always present, such as peppermint, angelica, cloves, cinnamon, and aniseed. The green colour is produced by the juice of spinach, nettles, or parsley, or, in other words, it is due to chlorophyll. The absorption-spectrum of properly made absinthe, is the same as that of chlorophyll. Most samples of absinthe contain sugar. The average composition of the liqueur as consumed in London (where its use is on the increase) is as follows:--- On diluting absinthe the essential oils are thrown out of solution, and the liquid becomes turbid. The reaction is always slightly acid, due to a trace of acetic acid. Adulterations of Absinthe.-The composition of absinthe appears to be fixed by no definite standard of strength; therefore, practically, the analyst has to look only for such substances as injurious colouring-matters and metallic impurities. Sulphate of indigo with turmeric is not unfrequently employed as a colouring agent, and similarly picric acid has been detected, and salts of copper. The latter is readily discovered by diluting the liqueur and adding ferrocyanide of potash, which, if copper be present, will give a brown coloration; picric acid and indigo are detected in the way elsewhere described. (See Index.) Analysis of Absinthe. The alcohol may be determined by distillation, after diluting the liqueur to cause the oils to separate, and getting rid of some portion by filtration. To make an estimation of the essential oils, a measured quantity of the liqueur is diluted to twice its volume by the addition of water; carbon disulphide is added, and the mixture shaken up in the tube described at p. 69. The carbon disulphide dissolves all the essential oils, and on evaporation leaves them in a state pure enough to admit of their being weighed. Absinthe, when taken habitually and for a lengthened time, produces a peculiar train of nervous symptoms which the French physicians affect to distinguish from the similar symptoms produced in inebriates by alcohol. In epilepsy caused by indulgence in absinthe, M. Voisin states, as the results of clinical observation, that the number of fits is far greater than in alcoholic epilepsy. |