Chemical examination of the bark of Erythrophloeum guineense / by Frederick B. Power and Arthur H. Salway.

  • Frederick Belding Power
Date:
[1912]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Chemical examination of the bark of Erythrophloeum guineense / by Frederick B. Power and Arthur H. Salway. 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.

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    l August, mi. purposes, and the great suffering thereby produced, which had been witnessed by Mr. YVickware, led him to bring the bark to our notice, as it was hoped that a study of its constituents would render it possible to suggest a means of obviating the destructive effects of the poison. Inasmuch as the alkaloid erythrophleine had hitherto not been obtained in a form which permitted of its more exact characterization, and the statements concerning it being also some- what at variance, it was deemed desirable to subject the “ Xkasa ” bark to a further chemical examination. The results which have now been obtained are summarized at the end of this paper. EXPERIMENTAL. The material employed for this investigation was obtained from the Belgian Congo, West Africa, through the kindness of Mr. Iner C. Wickware, of the Christian Missionary Alliance, at Boma, to whom our best thanks may here be expressed. It was collected from living trees, and, as already noted, agreed in its characters with the recorded descriptions of the bark of Erythrophlceum Guineense, G. Don. A small portion (io grammes) of the ground bark was tested for the presence of an alkaloid with a positive result. For the purpose of a complete chemical examination 72.9 kilo- grammes of the coarsely ground bark were completely extracted by continuous percolation with hot alcohol. After the removal of the greater portion of the alcohol, 27.68 kilogrammes of a dark red, viscid extract were obtained. A quantity (4.5 kilogrammes) of the above-mentioned extract was mixed with water and distilled in a current of steam, but it yielded no essential oil. After this operation there remained in the distillation flask a deep red, aqueous liquid (A) and a quantity of a viscid resin (B), which solidified on cooling. The resin was thoroughly washed with water, and the washings added to the main portion of the aqueous liquid. Examination of the Aqueous Liquid (A). The aqueous liquid was concentrated under diminished pressure, and then repeatedly extracted with ether. The ethereal liquid was washed, dried, and the solvent removed, when 12 grammes of a brown, varnish-like solid were obtained.
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