16 HOI\ 



as an ingredient in malt liquor ; the young* shoots or stems 

 gathered in spring and boiled are eaten as asparagus : they are 

 sometimes sold in the markets by the name of hop-tops. The 

 stems or bines, steeped in water, then dried and dressed like hemp, 

 make excellent cloth and cordage, and strong paper; for this purpose, 

 in Sweden, they are gathered in autumn, and soaked during the 

 winter, and in the following spring dried in stoves and prepared 

 in the usual manner. From the leaves and flowers when dried, 

 Dambourney procured a fine cinnamon brown dye, and the expressed 

 juice of the stems affords a permanent red-brown colour. 



The dried strobiles of Hops have a peculiar fragrant, heavy, 

 subnarcotic odour, and a very bitter, aromatic, persistent, slightly 

 astringent taste. Their virtues are extracted without heat by in- 

 fusion in alcohol and ether, and by warm infusion in water ; distilled 

 in water they yield a volatile aromatic oil. " The watery infusion 

 has a pale straw colour, which is rendered muddy by the mineral 

 acids : alkalies deepen its colour ; it strikes an olive with sulphate 

 of iron ; is precipitated by alcohol, solution of superacetate of 

 lead, nitrate of silver and tartarized antimony; and when rubbed 

 with magnesia or lime, a rod dipped in muriatic acid discovers the 

 presence of ammonia. The ethereal tincture, when evaporated on 

 water, leaves a pellicle of greenish, intensely bitter resin, and de- 

 posits some extractive. From these experiments Hops appear to 

 contain resin, extractive, volatile oil, tannin, an ammoniacal salt, 

 and what has been termed the bitter principle."* 



The active principle of Hops, resides in a yellow, transparent, semi- 

 resinous substance, which is sprinkled in the form of minute globules on 

 the outside of the scales of the strobiles or cones, near the base, and on 

 the seeds.f It is separated in part by friction, and collects upon the floors 

 of the kiln and room where the hops are dried, and warehouses in which 

 large quantities are kept, where it is called coom. It is known in the 

 markets by the term condition ; scientifically it is termed lupulin. Dr. 

 Ives, of New York, discovered that by merely beating and sifting the 

 Hops, the lupulin may be obtained, in the form of a fine yellow powder, 

 which adheres to the fingers when rubbed, agglutinates by heat, and is 

 very inflammable. He found by analysis that it contains tannin, gallic 



* Thomson's Dispensatory, 1836, p. 384. 



f The exact nature of this peculiar secretion has not been satisfactorily 

 explained. It is evidently connected with the economy of the floral 

 organs, and it is said to be peculiar to the female plant. Is it affected by 

 impregnation ? Is it secreted by the stigmas ? The male plants are those 

 most commonly found wild in hedges, and a few often find their way 

 into plantations. . 



