271-3 
tein pale yellow, bitter powder, fusible, 
; It dissolves slightly in water and alcohol, and is 
Viola pedata. According to Wittstein it is a 
and inflammable at greater heat 
insoluble in ether. 
Violaqueritrin, C,,H,,O,,. This -coloring- 
Mandelin® in wola tricolor var. arvensis ; 
soluble in alkalies, and hot water, crystall 
Salicylic Acid, C,H, : ae H This acid, so far in its history, has been but 
Ay 
rarely extracted under its own form from plants ; the flowers of Spirea uimaria 
alone yielding it.+ Karl Mandelin, however, who has made careful analyses of 
viola tricolor, extracts the acid pure. He reports in his « Inaugural Dissertation” 
(Dorpat, 1881) a proportion of from .043 per cent, in cultivated plants, to .107 per 
cent. in var. arvensis. He finds it in all parts of the fresh plant, and principally in 
the roots, stems and leaves. 
Pectin, or vegetable jelly, C,,H,O,, (H,O),. From the fact that a mixture of 
one part of the juice of this plant with ten parts water, will form a jelly-like mass, 
the presence of the above body or a very strong mucilage seems proven. This 
property has given various uses to Mzo/a as an expectorant, emollient, and infusion 
for coughs and bronchial affections. 
_ Sugar, both crystallizable and uncrystallizable, salts of potassium, tartrate of 
magnesium, and other general constituents of plants have been determined. 
matter was discovered by Karl 
it forms a yellow crystalline mass, easily 
izing from the latter on cooling. 
PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.—The emetic effect of some of the violets, due 
to the presence of zo/in, has been noted to some extent in this species, ‘The most 
characteristic symptom of its action is an offensive odor of the urine, like that of 
the cat. The pains caused by this drug are of a stitching character, while its action 
seems spent almost entirely upon the skin, and the male sexual organs. On the 
skin it causes burning, stinging, and itching, followed by breaking down of the 
tissues into either squamous spots, or any grade of incrusted eruptions; the erup- 
tion pours out a thin yellow fluid. Boils, impetigo, especially crustea lactea, 
ichorous and burrowing ulcers, and zoster followed the exhibition of generous doses 
of this drug. On the genital organs of the male the prepuce becomes swollen, 
with stitching and burning pains in the glans and scrotum, the testicle becomes 
indurated, and venereal ulcers form; stitchings are frequent in the urethra, followed 
by urging to urinate with profuse discharge. 
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE 27. 
1. Whole plant from Binghamton, N. Y., May 13, 1884. 
2. Bud showing sepals. : 
3. Pistil (enlarged). : 
4. Discharged anther (enlarged). 
5. Pollen x 380. 
‘ Lowig. 
*% Phar. Zeit. fiir Russland, 1883, pp- 329-334. Am. Four. Phar., 1883, p- 479. Tt 
