Chemical examination and physiological action of nutmeg / by Frederick B. Power and Arthur H. Salway.

  • Power, Frederick B. (Frederick Belding), 1853-1927.
Date:
[1908]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: Chemical examination and physiological action of nutmeg / 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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    very small quantity of a solid substance. The latter, after recrys- tallization from hot alcohol, melted at 74-75° C., and was identified as cerotic acid, which had previously been isolated by us from the expressed oil of nutmeg. (B.) The Alcohol Extract. This was a dark brown mass, amounting to 2300 grammes, or about 14.4 per cent, of the total press-cake. It was mixed with water, and the mixture distilled with steam until all the volatile substances present had been removed. Volatile Constituents of the Alcohol Extract. The aqueous distillate, which contained some oil floating on the surface, was extracted with ether, the ethereal solution being washed with a little water, dried with calcium chloride, and the ether removed. A quantity (about 26 grammes) of a pale yellow oil was thus obtained, which possessed an aromatic, and also somewhat pungent odor. Its density was 0.9362 at 20° C., and the optical rotation -f- 20 59' in a 100 mm. tube. The presence of furfural was indicated by the odor, and by the production of a deep red color when tested with aniline in acetic acid solution. The essential oil was first extracted with a 10 per cent, solution of sodium carbonate. This removed about 1 gramme of a solid substance which, after recrystallization from alcohol, melted at 53-54° C., and was identified as myristic acid. The oil was subse- quently extracted with a 5 per cent, solution of sodium hydroxide. On acidifying the alkaline liquid, and extracting with ether, a small quantity (about 0.5 gramme) of an oil was obtained which possessed a strong odor of eugenol, and yielded.a crystalline benzoyl derivative melting somewhat indefinitely between 84 and 98° C. This phenolic product evidently consisted of a mixture of eugenol and jj-oeugenol, these substances having previously been identified by us as constituents of the essential oil of nutmeg (loc. cit.). After the above treatment the oil was distilled under the ordinary pressure. It commenced to pass over at 190° C., the temperature gradually rising to 265° C. The amount of this essential oil was much too small for a complete examination, and it would naturally be expected to contain the same substances as had previously been