COPAIVA.

1175

Stoltze's Analysis.

B

r ovvn soft resin

Gerber's

Analysis.

Fresh Balsam

Old Balsam

38-00

41

31-70

52-75

51-38

53-68

1-66

2 18

1115

7-59

5-44

4-10

100 00

10000

100-63

®cc S ?.°P a ' va does not contain benzoic acid, it cannot be correctly termed a balsam,^ ,r unijr to the modern definition of this word (see p. 74).dist'l! . Oil of Copaiva (Oleum Copaiba). —Obtained by submitting- the balsam to"hat at . 10 “ " ‘th water in the ordinary still. The quantity of oil procured varies some-45 VV|t h different samples of balsam, but the average produce, I am informed, is 40 toAder (Journ. de Pharm. xv. 95) has published a method for procuring thei s i ll " ou t distillation ; but the process is more expensive, while the oil obtained by itw P^e, owing to the presence of a little resinous soap,it 0 c ‘" oil of copaiva has been rectified, and afterwards freed from water by digesting

at, c jdoride of calcium, it has a specific gravity of 0 878. It is colourless, and hascti, e ® r l. taste, and an aromatic peculiar odour. Sulphuret of carbon and sulphuric0| din ^ lss, d ve it in all proportions ; absolute alcohol dissolves two-fifths its weight of it;ch an rectified spirit takes up less than this. Potassium may be preserved in it un-ioqj showing the absence of oxygen. It dissolves sulphur, phosphorus, and

and v e ^ le latter it is coloured), and absorbs chlorine, with which it becomes turbid

SuM*^'- When dropped on iodine, heat and hydriodic acid are suddenly produced,acid P . * c and nitric acids convert it into a resinous substance. When hydrochloricQr h/to' !lS ( IS P asse< l into this oil, crystals of the hydrochlorate of the oil of copaiva (or$atj, r * camphor of the oil of copaiva) are deposited, while a fuming oily product,th e o l • W ' t * 1 ar'd* remains. Hence, therefore, it is probable that oil of copaiva, liket!i e c » ,°* tm-pendne (see p. 710), consists of at least two isomeric oils: one which formsthis ^ sta !bzable compound with hydrochloric acid ; the other, which does not formQ^stalline matter.

2 . Co P a 'va is isomeric with oil of turpentine,—that is, it consists of C 10 H 8 .v ol of Copaiva (Resina Copaiba). —After the balsam has been deprived of itshcatpj 6 hy distillation, a brownish resinous mass is left behind. This, when gently'-ong to ex P e l the residual water, is sold as resin of copaiva. It consists of two resinstectifi C | a ^ e .d copaivic acid, the other the viscid resin of copaiva. They are separated by(a I which dissolves the acid resin, but leaves the viscid one.

yield ^°Paivic Acid: Yellow Brittle Resin of Copaiva. —One hundred parts of balsamtie, tr° n an average, fifty parts of this acid. Copaivic acid is an amber-coloured, brit-fiXeq -^allizable resin, soluble in alcohol, rectified spirit, ether, and the volatile andby j ts | • It is decomposed by sulphuric and nitric acids. Its acid properties are proved)vhi c h■ c ”holic solution reddening litmus, and by the definite compounds (copaivates)•ut„ t , 11 forms with bases. Thus, if an alcoholic solution of nitrate of silver be droppedHi te 6 alcoholic solution of this resin, we obtain, on the addition of a little ammonia, afused Cl y s, alline precipitate (copaivate of silver), slightly soluble in alcohol, and com*•Hay ° ne atom copaivic acid, and one atom oxide of silver. In the same way weso<4 ar rm the analogous copaivates of lead and lime. The copaivates of potash and’ : ouu 8 °luble, and have a bitter taste and a disagreeable odour : they are easily de-•ii Wat p e< ^ acids. The copaivate of ammonia is soluble in ether and alcohol, but not

14

a te The copaivate of magnesia is prepared by adding copaivate of potash to sul-C 0n “; Magnesia. . . .

Cto )'| 32 V ' C acid is isomeric with piuic acid (see p. 717); that is, its composition is(h \

S<> l ,J tir> Resin of Copaiva ; Brown Soft Resin of Copaiva .—When a hot alcoholicl>o s ; ts 11 copaiva cools, it retains in solution the acid resin already described, but de-

Dio r e a , “town viscid substance, which is termed the viscid resin of copaiva. As it isaltera,- u,1< fant in old than in recent balsam, Gerber regards it as produced by somev olatii'° n °f the acid resin. It is soluble in anhydrous alcohol and ether, and m theI'Urts 0 f fixed oils. It has very little affinity for basic substances. One hundred

aalsam contain from 165 to 213 per cent, of this resin.

stiJ'OhociWL Effects. —Copaiva produces the general and topicaleffects of the oleo-resins, already described (see p. 73). Taken