20 BULLETIN 941, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
(6.) Two hundred twenty-five grams of dried blossoms and seeds 
of Hehnium hoopesii were ground to No. 20 powder and were ex- 
tracted with chloroform in a Soxhlet. The chloroform was distilled 
off on a steam bath. The residue weighed 28.95 grams (12.86 per 
cent) and was brownish, fatty, and fluid. It was heated on a steam 
bath with successive portions of water for several hours and filtered. 
The filtrate was bitter; it was evaporated to dryness on the steam 
bath. The residue was a yellowish resin. This was extracted with 
benzene. The white insoluble residue was very bitter and contained 
dugaldin. The benzene soluble matter was not bitter and was 
nontoxic. 
(c.) A second extraction with chloroform of 400 grams of dried 
blossoms and seeds yielded 12.62 per cent extract, in which no helenic 
acid could be found. 
A tabular statement of pharmacological experiments will be found 
in Table 2 on page 23. 
8. Water-soluble constituents. — Fifteen kilograms of air-dried basal 
leaves ground to about a No. 12 powder were extracted with water 
by percolation. This did not remove all the bitterness from the 
leaves. The percolate was brown and bitter. It was concentrated 
to a small volume. During this process a light-brown precipitate 
appeared, which consisted of albuminoids and calcium salts. This 
was collected, washed, and tested for toxicity to sheep. Sheep 409 
received daily doses of 5 grams of this precipitate from Sep- 
tember 4 to September 16, inclusive, receiving two doses on Sep- 
tember 10, 11, 12, and 16 — a total of 80 grams — without effect. 
Fifty grams were fed to Sheep 425 on September 10 without produc- 
ing any effect. The concentrated aqueous solution was divided into 
two portions. One portion was boiled over a free flame for several 
hours, when a further quantity of the brown, nontoxic precipitate 
separated and the solution lost its bitterness, due to hydrolysis of 
the glucosid. During a period of four days Sheep 450 received 
2,400 mils of this orally in five doses, but beyond some abdominal dis- 
turbance showed no effect. The other portion of the concentrated per- 
colate was treated with lead acetate, and the precipitate was filtered 
off; the filtrate was neutralized with ammonia and precipitated with 
basic lead acetate. This precipitate was filtered off, and the lead 
removed from the filtrate with hydrogen sulphid. The lead- 
acetate precipitate was washed, suspended in water, and decomposed 
with hydrogen sulphid. The solution was bitter and contained part 
of the glucosid. It was very toxic. The basic lead-acetate precipi- 
tate, freed from lead with hydrogen sulphid in the same way, was 
not bitter, contained no glucosid, and was nontoxic. The filtrate 
from the lead precipitations was bitter, contained a portion of the 
glucosid, and was very toxic. 
