134 PROCEEDINGS OP SECTION B. 



3.— EUPHORBIA PILULIFEHA, Linn. 

 By JOHN LUNN, Pharmaceutical Chemist, Sandgate. 



This well-known plant, which grows freely on waste lands, has 

 long had a reputation as a remedy for asthma. When Mr. Watkins 

 asked me to prepare a paper for this conference, and suggested 

 Duboisia or Uujjhorbia pihilifera as subjects. I found references to 

 Duboisia in several books, and the work of Ladenberg and 'others 

 referred to. Of Euphorbia, on the contraiy, I found no mention, so 

 I chose the latter, and commenced by gathering a bundle of the flower- 

 ing and fruiting plant in April last. One hundred parts of the greets 

 plant gave twenty-five parts of sun-dried di-ug in three days. 



This lost a further three parts on being dried over a wat-er bath 

 and cooled over sulphuric acid for one day. That is, 100 parts of 

 green plant lost 79 per cent, of moisture, and left twenty-one partes 

 of dry drug, which, on incineration, left three parts of ash. 



Ten grammes of the finely powdered dry drug were macerated in 

 100 cc. of petroleum ether of a low boiling point, the resulting- 

 solution was a fine translucent yellowish green colour, and, on 

 evaporation, gave a green residue, with a nauseous smell, equal to 1*85 

 per cent. 



This residue was in resinovis drops, very tough and sticky when 

 scraped with a knife. On being extracted with cold absolute alcohol 

 most of it was dissolved, except a white opaque solid, which had a 

 waxy character ; an attempt to take the melting point showed that 

 at about 140° Fahr. it softened, but did not completely melt. This 

 waxy substance is probably derived from a deposit on the cuticular 

 tissue, such as occurs in many plants as a protection from loss ot 

 moisture. 



The alcoholic solution gave, on evaporation, a bright orange 

 sticky resinous mass, equal to 1'.35 per cent. 



Ether. 



The petroleum ether was filtered oft" and the marc dried. One 

 hundred cc. of ether were used to macerate the marc, and dissolved an 

 amount equal to 2 '2 per cent., which, being treated with petroleum 

 ether, suffered no loss. 



The ether solution contained much chlorophyll, being blood red 

 by reflected light, and a fine bright green by transmitted light. After 

 treating the ether residue with water the balance was extracted with 

 absolute alcohol, and a pale green amorphous substance obtained on 

 evaporation equal to 1'7 per cent. 



The direct product of the water from the ether solution was twice 

 lost by accidents. I shook a portion out with acidulated water evapo- 

 ratetl to dr5miess over a water bath ; mixed with water and filtered, the 

 filtrate, gave a slight cloudiness with Mayer's reagent, and on evapora- 

 tion I obtained a brownish residue, which under the microscope showed 

 a number of crystals, some with a tendency to elongated hexagon- 

 shape, others like two lancet blades joined together. 



C J > 



I redissolved this in water, and added a drop of ammonia, and shook 

 out with ether; from the ether I got a white residue equal to O'l per 

 cent, of the dried drusr. 



