PLANT ANALYSIS AS AN APPLIED SCIENCE 207 



wood. A plant l was analyzed in the laboratory of Parke, 

 Davis & Co., named Cascara amarga, from which a new alka- 

 loid, picramnine, was separated. This alkaloid is like berberin 

 in its properties. Specimens of this plant were lately forwarded 

 to me, and there is every indication of the relationship of 

 identity of " chichipate " and Cascara amarga. This incident 

 is significant as deciding by means of chemical analysis the 

 identity of plants under distinct names from different regions. 

 No analysis under the name of "chichipate" had ever been 

 published until my own report. The dyeing property of the 

 substance, chichipatin, separated from " chichipate," I think 

 is quite independent of the alkaloid, though berberin, it is 

 well known, yields yellow colors with wool. I also separated 

 a new camphor from this plant. It is crystalline, and under 

 polarized light gives a beautiful play of colors. 



During the year 1886, Professor Trimble 2 separated a new 

 crystalline camphor, phloxol, from the underground portion 

 of Phlox Carolina. This substance resembles the camphor 

 found in chichipate. It is soluble in petroleum-ether, and 

 this solvent is suggested as a means of distinguishing powdered 

 Phlox Carolina from Spigelia. The latter contains no cam- 

 phor. Phlox is frequently put on the market for Spigelia. The 

 two drugs in the normal condition can be readily identified. 



An estimate of the profitable ends of the chemical analysis 

 of plants may be gathered from the above statements. 



Plant analysis covers a wide field, for it includes the chemistry 

 of the living and the dead plant. Its application to various 

 industries is far-reaching. 



Plant analysis in this country has been called an " infant 

 industry." There are probably differences of opinion about 

 the infant needing protection. It certainly needs encourage- 

 ment and support, when its importance as a citizen is recog- 

 nized. 



Plant chemistry should not only be directed towards the 



1 "Cascara Amarga," by F. A. Thompson. Ther. Gazette., January 15, 

 1884, p. 8. 



"An Analysis of the Underground Portion of Phlox Carolina," by Henry 

 Trimble, Amer. Jour. Phar., October, 1886, p. 479. 



