A chemist’s HOLIDAY :—JOTTINGS IN FRANCE. 
245 
I. A process by Messrs. F.D. Hill and Co., of Cincinnati.* “ Exhaust coarsely- 
powdered mandrake-root with alcohol by percolation. Place the saturated tinc¬ 
ture in a still, and draw olF the spirit; the residue will be a dark fluid of the con¬ 
sistence of molasses. Warm the thick residual liquor, and slowly pour it into 
three times its volume of cold water, which must be constantly agitated during 
the process. Allow it to stand twenty-four hours, then collect the precipitate 
on a linen filter, and wash several times with water. After this, place it in thin 
layers on paper, and dry in a room of a temperature between 65° and 90° E., 
or, if in summer, at the natural atmospheric temperature.” 
II. The process of the ‘ British Pharmacopoeia,’ also published by Messrs. 
Hill,t differs from the above only in the addition of 5 x 7 th part of hydrochloric 
acid to the water by which the podophyllin is precipitated. 
III. Consists in shaking together a concentrated tincture of the rhizome and 
a saturated solution of alum, and collecting, washing, and drying the precipi¬ 
tate, as previously described. 
To ascertain the comparative value of these processes, a concentrated tincture 
of Podophyllum was prepared by percolation, and divided into three equal por¬ 
tions. Each portion was precipitated in accordance with one of the above me¬ 
thods, and with the following results:—No. 1 yielded 2*7 per cent, of podo¬ 
phyllin : No. 2, 4 per cent.; and No. 3, 24 per cent. The two former were 
almost entirely soluble in alcohol (the best solvent of podophyllin J), whilst the 
latter contained 7 per cent, insoluble in that menstruum. 
By adding hydrochloric acid to the water in which No. 1 was precipitated 
(after the podophyllin had been filtered out), silky crystals separated; whilst 
the water from No. 2, treated in a like manner, remained clear. These crystals 
are said to be hydrochlorate of berberia,§ to the presence of which the activity 
of podophyllin is by some partially ascribed. 
From the foregoing it will be inferred that the process of the ‘ British Phar¬ 
macopoeia ’ gives the most satisfactory result. 
In order to estimate the purity of commercial samples, solubility in alcohol 
was taken as the standard. Samples obtained from eleven different sources 
were thus examined, and showed a degree of insolubility varying from 2 to 8 per 
cent. Of these samples, the residues of five, first calcined and then treated with 
dilute hydrochloric acid, and tested in the usual way, yielded a trace of alumina. 
The residue of two others, treated in the same manner, yielded iron, and one 
copper. The remaining three gave no metallic precipitate. 
From the preceding, coupled with the fact that from podophyllin prepared 
by process No. 8, 7 per cent, of matter insoluble in alcohol was obtained, which, 
on further examination, showed a trace of alumina, it is inferred that commer¬ 
cial podophyllin, though comparatively a pure article, is far from uniform in its 
nature, and that process No. 3 is most generally adopted for its preparation, 
though some other astringent metallic salt is occasionally substituted for the 
alum. It seems desirable that the new Pharmacopoeia process should be more 
generally employed, as it certainly appears to give the most satisfactory and de¬ 
finite preparation. 
338, Oxford Street, London. 
A CHEMIST’S HOLIDAY:—JOTTINGS IN FRANCE. 
BY DANIEL HANBURY, F.L.S. 
{Read at the Bath Meeting of the British Pharmaceutical Conference , Sept. 18G4.) 
Many of us when boys must have read with delight the charming little tale 
* Parrish’s ‘ Practical Pharmacy,’ p. 191. f Ibid. 
£ Bentley, ‘Pharmaceutical Journal,’ 2nd series, vol. iii. p. 460. 
§ Attfield, ‘Pharmaceutical Journal,’ 2nd series, vol. v. p. 632. 
