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SALICIN, SALICINUM, C13H1807

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 68 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SALICIN, SALICINUM, C13H1807 , the See also:bitter principle of See also:willow-bark, discovered by See also:Leroux in 1831. It exists in most See also:species of Salix and Populus, and has been obtained to the extent of 3 or 4% from the bark of S. See also:helix and S. pentandra. Salicin is prepared from a decoction o the bark by first precipitating the See also:tannin by See also:milk of See also:lime, then evaporating the filtrate to a soft See also:extract, and dissolving out the salicin by See also:alcohol. As met with in See also:commerce it is usually in the See also:form of glossy See also:white scales or needles. It is neutral, odourless, unaltered by exposure to the See also:air, and has a bitter See also:taste. It is soluble in about 30 parts of See also:water and 8o parts of alcohol at the See also:ordinary temperature, and in 0.7 of boiling water or in 2 parts of boiling alcohol, and more freely in alkaline liquids. It is also soluble in acetic See also:acid without alteration, but is insoluble in See also:chloroform and benzol. From phloridzin it is distinguished by its ammoniacal See also:solution not becoming coloured when exposed to the air. Chemically, it is a See also:glucoside derived from See also:glucose and saligenin (o-oxy-benzyl alcohol), into which it is decomposed by the enzymes ptyaline and emulsin. Oxidation converts it into helicin (salicylaldehyde-glucose). Populin, a benzoyl salicin, is a glucoside found in the leaves and bark of Populus tremula. Salicin is used in See also:medicine for the same purposes as salicylic acid and the salicylates.

It is also used as a bitter tonic, i.e. a gastric stimulant, in doses of five grains. The ordinary dose may go up to See also:

forty grains or more with perfect safety, though the See also:British See also:Pharmacopoeia limits it to twenty. The remote See also:action of the See also:drug is that of salicylic acid or the numerous compounds that contain it (see SALICYLIC ACID).

End of Article: SALICIN, SALICINUM, C13H1807

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SALICYLIC ACID (ortho-hydroxybenzoic acid)

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