AEsculin

AEsculin , a substance obtained from the bark of the horse - chestnut (AEsculus hippocastanum) in the form of needle-shaped crystals, which are colourless, inodorous, and bitter to the taste. AEsculin is only slightly soluble in water and alcohol at ordinary temperatures, but dissolves more freely at a boiling heat. Glacial acetic acid is also a very good solvent; but by ether it is scarcely affected. AEsculin is celebrated for the beautiful blue fluorescence which is shown by its aqueous solution, a characteristic which becomes still more marked if the liquid be alkaline, but is destroyed by acids.