SENNA. 1167
®8ular, and obtuse. Their regularity at the base would at once distin-them from the leaflets of C. obovata.
^gel leaves, mixed with a few leaflets of C. acutifolia, I have known., e recently sold as picked senna. It was done rather from ignorancetha » fraud.
I'm. 217 . A serious adulteration has been sometimes practisedon the continent, by the substitution of the leaves of Co-riaria myrtifolia for those of senna ( Journ. de Chim. Med. i.284). They are ovate-lanceolate, grayish-green with abluish tinge, three-nerved, with a strongly marked mid-rib ; the two lateral nerves disappear towards the summitof the leaves. Chemically these leaves are distinguishedby their infusion yielding, with gelatine, a whitish pre-cipitate (tannate of gelatine), and with sulphate of iron,a very abundant blue precipitate (tannate of iron). Fur-thermore, it forms precipitates with bichloride of mer-£ n yrtifolia. cm y, emetic tartar, and chloride of barium.
l7S)7 )MPOSITION '—Three analyses of senna have been made; viz. one inCq > by Bouillon La Grange {Ann. Chim. xxiv. 3); a second by Bra -[Journ. Phys. lxxxiv. 281), and a third, in 1821, by Lassaignef eneulle {Ann. Chim. et Phys. xvi. 16):—
<Vi«ir fof
Senna Leaves.
Praconnot.
----
mtter matter of senna ^
h-wMish-Vown g"®.
"tatter similar to ant*taal mucus, precip 1 * ^table by acids ••••*tetate of lime .-•••*“talat e for some otherVegetable salt) .,.7
..
*<*tate of
LVil, •
traces
* extract of 0
Alexandrian senna 104 'Z
Odor
Cathartin.
Yellow colouring matter.Volatile oil.
Fixed oil.
Albumen.
Mucus.
Malic acid.
Malate and tartrate of lime.Acetate of potash.
Mineral salts.
[Insoluble matter (lignin,&c.)]
Alexandrian senna.
Senna Pods.
Feneulle.
Cathartin.
Yellow colouring matter.Volatile oil.
Fixed oil.
Albumen.
Gum.
Malic acid.
Malates of potash and lime.Mineral salts.
Silicic acid.
Lignin.
Legumes of Cassia acuti-folia.
s > p r nci P le or Volatile Oil of Senna. —Obtained by submitting the leaves,
wtv 1 c° distillation. It has a nauseous odour and taste. The distilled water of2. p a „ lc * 1 contains some oil in solution, acts as a mild purgative only,b t*cul iar a ^ or Purgative Principle of Senna. —Yellowish-red, uncrystallizable, with,* n $()]„])° . ur > an d a fitter, nauseous tate ; very soluble both in water and alcohol,^ in ether; it attracts water from the air. Its aqueous solution is precipi-p Ce Peii (jj us jon of galls and diacetate of lead. The sesquisulphate of iron and alkaliesf 1 ', anq c °l?ur of the infusion: chlorine decolorizes it: iodine, acetate of lead, gela-^ r °9en en ' < j t ' c tartar , cause no precipitates with it. It appears to consist of carbon ,q > n d oxygen only. Three grains caused nausea, griping, and purging.
Cx Posur CALGHARACTERISTICS -—boiling senna in water,—by thew^eral e °/ infusion of senna to the air, as well as by the action of thebfiqjjjo a cids and of chlorine on the infusion,—a precipitate is procured.Ahiojj Ta Grange regarded this as a species of resin, formed by theextract; ° X y§ en with a peculiar kind of extractive found in senna. Thisre siq. be says, is inert, but becomes active when converted intoUd hence, the cold infusion, according to this chemist, causes