HYDRANGEA ARBORESCENS. 
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and a peculiar, aromatic, somewhat pungent, and by no means disagreeable 
taste. The odour and taste are most evident in the bark or cortical portion, 
especially so after chewing a piece for some time. 
The transverse section of the larger slices shows a large pith of a whitish co¬ 
lour and glistening appearance, surrounded by a whitish, or whtish-yellow, com¬ 
pact wood, and on the outside of which is a thin yellowish, or yellowish-brown 
bark, or cortical portion, readily separable, in most cases, from the wood beneath. 
The rootlets, which are detached, or adherent to the larger pieces, are com¬ 
monly, especially in the former case, many inches in length. In size they vary 
from pieces about that of a horse-hair to that of a knitting-needle. They have 
a very compact tough texture; and consist of a thin, yellowish, easily detached 
cortical portion, surrounding a hard woody portion or meditullium, which pre¬ 
sents no traces of a pith or medulla. In taste and odour they resemble the 
larger pieces already described. 
Composition and Chemical Characteristics. —The root of Hydrangea 
arborescens was analysed by Joseph Laidley, of Richmond, Virginia.* His ex¬ 
periments indicated the presence of gum, albumen, starch, resin, soda, lime, 
potassa, magnesia, sulphuric and phosphoric acids, and a proto-salt of iron. 
No alkaloid or any other constituent was found, which would account for its 
reputed active properties. Mr. Laidley thought that the activity of the root 
was due to some combination of the constituents, and that much was owing to 
the large amount of mucilaginous matter contained in the root. We should be 
inclined to infer, from the above analysis, that the root was destitute of any 
very powerful properties. 
An infusion of the sliced root well bruised, in the proportion of one ounce to 
thirty ounces of boiling water, and allowed to macerate for twenty-four hours, 
had a pale-yellow colour, a peculiar and very slightly aromatic taste, and a pecu¬ 
liar, feebly aromatic, pungent, and by no means disagreeable taste. It exhibited 
the following reactions:— Tincture of iodine caused a violet-black coloration, 
but no precipitate; solution of persulphate of iron, a very slight greenish-black 
coloration, but no precipitate; solution of perchloride of iron, a slight greenish- 
brown coloration, but no precipitate; solution of oxalate of ammonia, a plentiful 
whitish, light, gelatinous-like precipitate; solution of baryta, an abundant 
brownish-yellow, gelatinous-like, flaky precipitate; solution of nitrate of baryta, 
slowly produced a plentiful, light, whitish, somewhat flaky precipitate ; solution 
of acetate of lead caused an opalescent apjfearance, and formed in a short time a 
plentiful yellowish-brown, light precipitate; solution of basic-acetate of lead 
caused a milky appearance, and slowly caused a plentiful yellowish-white, light 
precipitate ; solution of bichloride of mercury rendered the infusion somewhat 
opalescent, but produced no marked precipitate; solution of bichloride of pla¬ 
tinum had a nearly similar effect to the preceding ; solution of nitrate of silver 
caused a plentiful brownish, somewhat flaky precipitate ; solution of sulphate of 
copper had no very evident effect at first, but ultimately produced a marked 
brownish, light precipitate ; solution of chloride of lime discharged the colour, 
and formed a whitish, somewhat flaky, floating precipitate. No evident effects 
were produced by litmus or tur meric papers, nor by acetic, hydrochloric, nitric, 
or sulphuric acids ; nor by tincture of galls; nor by the addition to the infu¬ 
sion of either of the following solutions:— Solution of potash, ferridcyanide of 
potassium, ferrocyanide of potassium, chromate of potash, carbonate of potash, 
sulphate of soda, ammonia, gelatine, potassio-tartrate of antimony, sulphate 
of lime, and chloride of calcium. Some of the reactions, as given above by us, 
differ in certain cases from those obtained by Mr. Laidley, and which he has 
published in his paper already referred to. 
* £ American Journal of Pharmacy,’ vol. xviii., Jan. 1852, p. 20. 
