Lactucarium from Lactuca Canadensis. H. Flowers. (Amer. Journ. of Pharm., July, 1879.) The milk-juice which exudes from this plant during its earlier stages of development is perfectly inert, though a large quantity is produced. As collected up to July 20, the exudation has a strong narcotic odour, while the palate perceives no bitterness, but simply a flat sweetish taste. Up to this time the plant has borne its reproductive organs, but failed in giving the requisite bitterness. A change, however, occurs about the end of July, at which time the laticiferous vessels are yielding a large supply of juice with a slightly bitter taste and a stronger and more lasting odour. As the season advances, both the bitter principle and the narcotic odour increase.

The milk-juice collected during the latter part of the season dried in irregular masses, crumbling into minute fragments when rubbed between the fingers, and was of a blackish brown colour, a strong odour and very bitter taste. If kept in a closely-corked bottle it remains soft and is capable of being moulded into cakes. The odour is slightly stronger in the fresh state, and the colour a greyish brown. Aubergier experimented upon this plant in 1843, and came to the conclusion that the lactucarium it yielded was devoid of bitter principle and worthless. Prof. Maisch, on the other hand, while examining this plant in 1867, obtained decided indications of the presence of a bitter principle, and of its medicinal activity.

The author's experiments were conducted with the milk-juice collected in September and October. Four drams of it were exhausted on a filter with boiling alcohol until eight ounces of filtrate were obtained. On passing through animal charcoal, and then concentrating by spontaneous evaporation, this filtrate yielded inodorous and tasteless needles, which melt at about 175° F., and congealed on cooling to a granular mass. They were evidently lactucerin. On still further evaporating the mother-liquor and adding to it water, a whitish precipitate was produced, from which the aqueous liquor was thoroughly drained. On dissolving the precipitate in boiling alcohol and evaporating the solution spontaneously, more of the tasteless needles were obtained, and pale brownish bitter scales, which were evidently impure lactucin.

The aqueous mother-liquor was precipitated by basic acetate of lead, and both the precipitate and the filtrate were freed from lead by sulphuretted hydrogen. On evaporating the solution, brownish amorphous masses, having a bitter taste, were left, corresponding to the lactucic acid and lactucopierin of the European lactucarium.

Lactucerin is soluble in boiling alcohol, light petroleum ether, and

chloroform, but only sparingly in cold alcohol; it is insoluble in water. It crystallizes in needle-shaped crystals, which melt at 175°, and volatilize when heated more strongly. It is charred by sulphuric acid, but nitric acid has no action on it.

Lactucin, which has a bitter taste, and is nearly insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol and acetic acid. It crystallizes in scales, and is not precipitated from its solution by ammonia.

Lactucic acid has an acrid bitter taste, and is soluble in alcohol, but insoluble in petroleum spirit, ether, and chloroform; it has a brownish green colour.

Lactucopicrin forms a brown amorphous mass, having a bitter taste, soluble in alcohol, chloroform, ether, and water; it is not precipitated by lead salts.

The residue of lactucarium left after the separation of the above substances was treated with carbon bisulphide and other solvents, but no definite results were obtained.

The statement of Aubergier regarding the worthlessness of this plant is therefore undoubtedly incorrect, as there exist, beyond question, several bitter principles with decided physiological action. That author probably collected the juice before the plants were sufficiently matured, and the bitter principles developed.

Japanese Belladonna. E. M. Holmes. (Pharm. Journ., 3rd series, X., 789.) Under the name of Japanese belladonna, a root has of late been repeatedly offered for sale in the European markets. The author's attention having been drawn to this drug, he has succeeded, with the aid of the recently published work by Franchet and Savatier on Japanese plants, to refer it to Scopolia japonica as its botanical source. This species of scopolia differs from the European one (S. carniolica) chiefly in its more acute leaves, which have constantly longer petioles, in the style being curved or declinate instead of straight, and in the teeth of the calyx being sometimes very unequal. The fruit is unknown. In size, the Japanese plant equals robust specimens of the European species.

The rhizome, as met with in commerce, varies in length from 2 to 4 or 5 inches, and on an average is half an inch in diameter, cylindrical or slightly compressed, rarely branched, knotty, and more or less bent and marked on the upper surface with circular, disc-like scars where the leafy stems have arisen. It is the slightly alternate disposition of the nodes from which these stems arise which gives the rhizome its knotty character. No rootlets remain attached to the rhizome, but each node is surrounded with one or more indistinct rows of dots or scars, apparently indicating their presence. The

rhizome is externally of a brown colour, not white when abraded, as in belladonna, of a pale brown colour internally, speckled with numerous very minute dots, which appear under a lens to be white and starchy, and scattered through a resinous or horny-looking structure. The bark is so similar in colour and so closely applied to the meditullium as not to be readily distinguishable by the naked The odour is slightly mousy and narcotic, and the taste hardly any except a slight bitterness. From portions which were mixed with the rhizome, it would appear to terminate in a genuine root of some length and thickness.

eye.

The left hand figure represents the root, the right hand one the twisted rhizome, and the central one a transverse section of the rhizome with the vascular bundles more marked than usual.

The author adds the following information respecting the genus Scopolia. It was founded by Jacquin on the peculiarity of the fruit, which is a capsule. The capsule, with the calyx and pedicel, fall off together, and after a time the capsule dehisces transversely, like that of henbane. In colour of the flower and in foliage the plant so closely resembles belladonna, that were it not for the fact that belladonna has a baccate fruit and no rhizome, even a good botanist might be led to call it an Atropa. The genus is named after Antoine Scopoli, an Idrian physician and professor of botany, who appears to have been the first to notice the European species.

The woodcuts of this and subsequent illustrations were kindly lent by the Editor of the Pharmaceutical Journal.

The Japanese scopolia has the leaves often more or less deeply dentate, or even repand-dentate, in which character it presents an analogy to Solanum nigrum in this country, the leaves of which may sometimes be found quite entire and sometimes coarsely-toothed.

The Alleged Presence of Tannin in Gentian Root. Prof. J. M. Maisch. (Amer. Journ. of Pharm., January, 1880.) The statements hitherto published with regard to the presence or absence of tannin in gentian root are very conflicting (see Year-Book of Pharmacy, 1876, p. 228; 1877, p. 217; and 1879, p. 496.) The last communication on this subject is a paper read at the Sheffield meeting of the British Pharmaceutical Conference by E. Davies, in which the presence of a trace (0.08 per cent.) of tannin (probably gallotannic acid) in recently dried gentian root was inferred from precipitates obtained in the infusion by gelatin, acetate of cinchonine, and tartar emetic, and from the distinct darkening of colour by ferric chloride. Mr. Davies also observed that the infusion of powdered gentian would only be slightly darkened by ferric chloride, and yield a faint precipitate with gelatin after long standing, and no precipitate with tartar emetic; and he therefore believes that this trace of tannin is liable to decomposition when the root is powdered and so exposed to oxidation, so that it cannot be regarded as a constant constituent of gentian root.

Desiring to examine the subject further, the author requested Mr. C. Baur to make a series of experiments in the laboratory of the Philadelphia College. The substances operated upon were an old sample of the root, a sample of concentrated infusion preserved by means of alcohol, and three samples of root of good and fresh appearance. The old root and infusion had been kept by the author for four years, while the other three samples of root were procured at the time the experiments were made. The infusion had deposited a precipitate of a pectin compound; filtered and freed from alcohol by evaporation, the liquid gave no precipitate with gelatin. The old root yielded by percolation with cold water a rather thick and opaque infusion, which produced a dark greenish black colour with ferric chloride, and a gelatinous precipitate with gelatin. But since the infusion could not be obtained perfectly transparent by filtration, and since alum solution would also precipitate it, it was diluted with about an equal bulk of water, when on standing over night a similar gelatinous precipitate of pectin separated, and the clear filtrate was not precipitated by gelatin, even after prolonged standing, and yielded only a very slight coloration on the addition of ferric chloride. A dilute infusion of the same root was left in

M

contact for over a week with a large piece of fresh hide, when ferric chloride produced merely a slight tint of the same intensity as in the beginning of the experiment.

The infusions prepared from two other samples of root were not affected by gelatin. The third sample apparently yielded a slight precipitate with gelatin on standing; but it was noticed that another portion of the same infusion, to which no gelatin had been added, likewise separated a precipitate similar in amount and appearance to that formed after the addition of the gelatin, and evidently consisting of a pectin compound. After removing this spontaneous precipitate by filtration, the liquid was not disturbed by gelatin, tartar emetic, or sulphate of cinchonine.

Since it was found impossible to procure gentian root, the clear infusion of which would give a decided precipitate with gelatin, further experiments were not made; but Mr. Baur has taken steps for obtaining recently dug gentian root from Europe, and expects to continue the investigation.

The author believes it is safe to conclude that commercial gentian root is free from tannin. The pectin present in the root is doubtless altered in the course of time, and possibly converted into the pectonic acid of Frémy, or a similar compound, which, while not entirely insoluble in water, becomes so in the presence of various salts, and probably also by gelatin and other substances. In separating from the imperfect solution, most of the yellow colouring matter is carried down with it; hence the gelatinous precipitate, after the mother-liquor has been drained off, acquires a deep greenish black colour on the addition of a ferric salt, and on account of the sparing solubility of the gentisic acid in water, needs copious washing with water to free it from this compound, after which it will not be coloured dark by the same reagent. In the same manner may also be explained the result of Mr. Ville's experiment with hide, and possibly the behaviour of the infusion observed by Mr. Davies with tartar emetic and the cinchonine salt.

Essential Oil of Aloes. (Pharm. Journ., 3rd series, x., 613.) This oil was first discovered by Messrs. T. & H. Smith, of Edinburgh, in 1873. A specimen of it produced by this eminent firm of chemists was recently exhibited by Dr. W. Craig at a meeting of the North British Branch of the Pharmaceutical Society. It is a pale yellowish mobile liquid, of 0.863 specific gravity, somewhat resembling oil of peppermint in taste and smell. It boils between 266° and 271° C. It exists in aloes in exceedingly small proportion, only 2 fluid drams being obtained from five hundred pounds of