The proposed method of microsublimation for the detection of aesculin and the identification of gelsemium / by Frank Tutin.

  • Tutin, Frank.
Date:
[1912]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The proposed method of microsublimation for the detection of aesculin and the identification of gelsemium / by Frank Tutin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    5/10 page 1
    THE PROPOSED METHOD OF MICRO- SUBLIMATION FOR THE DETECTION OF AESCULIN AND THE IDENTIFICATION OF GELSEMIUM.* BY FRANK TUTIN. In some recent “contributions to applied plant micro- chemistry,” 0. Tunmann has proposed a method for the detec- tion of aesculin by microsublimation, which he considers especially adapted for the identification of gelsemium.* 1 It is stated that when a small quantity of the ground drug, or a section of the rhizome or root, is placed between two micro- scope slides, and suitably heated, a characteristic crystalline sublimate of aesculin is obtained. The sublimate is recognised with the aid of the microscope by its appearance, crystalline form, and certain reactions. It is furthermore stated that aesculin, when examined by the micro-chemical method, does not behave as it does under the conditions of an ordinary chemical experiment. Thus, in chemical literature, aesculin is stated to lose its water of crystallisation at about 130°, to melt at 160°, and to decompose, yielding aesculetin and dextrose, at about 230°. Tunmann states, however, that when examined by the microsublimation method, aBsculin melts at 49-50°, sublimes Teadily at 58-60°, and may even be sublimed out of gelsemium at so low a temperature as 40°, no decom- position occurring. The author finally claims that the method * A communication from the Welloome Chemical Research Labors tories, London, E.C., and reprinted from The Pharmaceutical Journal and Pharmacist, February 10, 1912.
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3