10 Dr. Stenhouse on the Resin of the Xanthoroes hastilis Nov. 17 1845.-John Thomas Cooper Esq. Vice -President in the Chair. ‘‘Taylor’s Calendar of the Meetings of the Scientific Societies of London for 1845 and 1846,” presented by the editor. W. H. Balmain Esq. was elected a Member of the Society. The following paper was read :-CLI. Observations 0% the Ilesin of the Xanthoroea hastilis or Yellow Gum-resinof New HoZlad. By JOHNSTENHOUSE Esq. Ph.D. THIS remarkable resin which is known in commerce as the yellow gum or acaroid resin of Botany Bay exudes from the Xuwthora?n hnstilis a tree which grows abundantly in New Holland especially in the neigh bourhood of Sidney. This resin was first described in Governor Phillips’s Voyage to New South Wales in 1788.Mr. Phillips states that it was employed by the natives and first settlers as a medicine in cases of diarrhea. The resin as it occurs in commerce sometimes forins masses of considerable size but as it is very brittle although tolerably hard it usiially arrives in the state of a coarse powder. Its colour is a deep yellow with a slightly reddish shade considerably resembling gamboge but darker and less pleasing. The colour of its powder is greenish yellow. When chewed it does not dissolve or stick to the teeth but tastes slightly astringent and aromatic like storax or benzoin. Its sniell is very agreeable and balsamic. When gently heated it melts and when strongly heated it burns with a strong smoky flame and emits a fragrant oclour or Yellow Gumresin of Kew Hollaiid.resembling balsam of Tolu. The resin contains a trace of an essential oil to which much of its agreeable sniell is probably .T owing. 1his oil passes into the receiver when the resin is distilled with a mixture of' carbonate of soda and water but its quantity is so small that I was unable to examine it more closely. The resin is insoluble in water but dissolves readily both in alcohol and in tether especially in the former. Its solution in alcohol has it brr/wnish yellow colour ; the addi- tion of water precipitates it as a dark yellow niass,but it does not crystallize out of its alcoholic solution when left to spon- taneous evaporation but remains as a varnish. When di- gested with strong alkaline lyes it readily dissolves and forms a brownish red solution; and when the alkali is neutralized with muriatic acid the resin is precipitated considerably altered as a dark brownish brittle mass.On concentrating the solu-tion out of which the resin has been precipitatetl and allowing it to coo! a quantity of impure reddish crystals resembling benzoic acid are gradually deposited. It requires repeated arid long-con tinued digestions with the strongest alkaline lyes to reimove the whole of this crystalline acid from the resin which retains it with very great tenacity. The quantity of the acid is by no means great. It is riot easily purified as its crystals are apt to retain a trace of a reddish eolouring matter from which it is very difficult to free them.The easiest wag of getting rid of it is by dissolving the impure crystals in a small quantity of alcohol and then adding water; the greater portion of the colouring matter is retained in solution while the crystals are precipitated tolerably white. When purified by repeated crystallizations they become quite colourless. In appearance taste and smell they closely resemble benzoic acid. When dried at 212' F. arid subjected to analysis,- I. 0.2284 grm. of substance gave 0-6005 CO and 0-113 EI 0. I I. 039.55 grm. of substance prepared on a different occn- siori gave 0.790 CO and O*1505 HO. Found. I. 11. Cinnarnic acid. Benzoic acid. C . 71-74 72-91 73-35 68.85 H . 5-49 5-65 5'32 4.9 1 0 . 22.77 21*44 21-33 26-24 100~00 100'00 1oo*oo 100'00 It is evident from these arialyses that the crystalline acid con- tains nearly the same amount of carbon and hydrogen as cinna- mic acid with some deficiency however in the carbon.I was led therefore to suspect that it consisted essentially of cinnamic 12 Dr. Stenhouse on the Resin Ofthe Xanthoroea hastilis. acid with probably a small admixtiire of benzoic acid a sus-picion which subsequent experiments tended fully to confirm ; for on heating a quantity of' the crystals with some peroxide of manganese and sulphuric acid oil of bitter almonds was immediately evolved and on boiling a second portion with hypochlorite of lime the very peculiar chlorinated oil de- scribed in a. former paper was also abundantly produced thus clearly indicating the presence of cinnamic acid.A third portion of the crystals was dissolved in alcohol and left to spontaneous evaporation; it yielded after some time the fine rhombic prisms so characteristic of cinnamic acid when it is crystallized out of alcohol mixed however with some long acicular crystals having all the appearance of benzoic acid I think myself warranted to conclude therefore that Botany Bay resin contains cinnarnic acid mixed with a very little her?-zoic in which respect it resembles balsam of Tolu which con- tains both cinnamic aid benzoic acids though fortunately in much greater abundance. Action of Nitric Acid 018 the Resin. When 'the resin is treated with moderately strong nitric acid in the cold a violent action ensues with the evolution of nitrous fumes.The resin is completely dissolved if the quan- tity of the nitric acid is considerable. The colour of the solu- tion is dark red but by boiling it becomes of a bright yellow colour. The liquid should be evaporated to dryness on the water-bath to get rid of the great excess of nitric acid. The residue forms a mass of fine yellow crystals consisting chiefly of carbazotic acid but mixed with some oxalic and a little nitrobenzoic acids. The nitrobenzoic acid is evidently de rived from the cinnamic acid in the resin. The carbazotic acid is easily separated from these other acids by converting it into carbazotate of potash which is easily purified by one or two crystallizations and then by decomposing the salt with muriatic acid pure carbazotic acid may be obtained.0.3823 grm. of the acid dried at 212O P. gnve 0.442 CO and 0-049HO. Found. Calculated numbers. Carbon . . 51-53 31-37 Hydrogen . 1.42 1-30 oxygen . . 6'7'05 67-33 1oo*oo 100-00 0*3975grm of the potash salt decomposed by sulphuric acid and then ignited with carbonate of ammonia left 0*1300 of sulphate .of potash =17*68per cent. of potash ; calculated quaiitity 1'7.60. Mr.E. F. Teschemacher 011 Substamesfrom Guano. 13 The silver salt was also formed by boiling the acid with car- boiiate of'silver. It is a very soluble salt which crystallizes in fine red-coloured needles. 0.S9'75 grm. of the salt gave 0'372 C1 Ag=31*28 Ag or 33'53 per cent. oxide. The calculated numbers are 31-27 per cent.of silver = 33*59oxide. The quantity of carbazotic acid which Botany Bay resin yields when treated with nitric acid is so great and it is so *. emly piirified that this resin seems likely to prove the best source of that substance. When the resin is subjected to destructive distillation in an iron or copper retort it yields a very large quantity of a heavy acid oil mixed with a very small quantity of a neutral oil which is lighter than water. If' however the resin has been previously digested with nlka- line lyes so as to remove all the cinnainic and benzoic acids it contains the heavy oil is obtained as before but none of the light essential oil. The acid oil is readily soluble in potash and soda lyes; in its smell and properties it resembles creos- ote; when it is digested with nitric acid it is wholly converted into carbazotic acid and when a slip of' fir-wood is dipt in it and then moistened with either muriatic or nitric acid the deep blue colour passing quickly into brown so characteristic of' hydrate of phenyle is immediately produced with which substance the oil appears conipletely identical.The light oil above mentioned the quantity of which is extremely small is separated from the hydrate of phenyle by saturating it with an alkali and distilling the mixture in a glass retort with a gentle heat. In snie!l and properties it resembles henzin and is most probably a mixture of benzin and cinnamene; unfor- tunately the quantity obtnined was so small that I was unable to subject it to more particular examination.