Du Mez—The Galenical Oleoresins. 
1011 
object the determination of the quantity of total active constit- 
uents (crude filicin) present. The methods which have been 
proposed for this purpose are as follows: 
Method of Bulle (1867) :* Add a liberal amount of water to a weighed 
portion of the oleoresin contained in a suitable flask and heat on a water 
bath at 40° to 50°C. Add sufficient ammonia water to produce a strong 
odor of the same after vigorously shaking. Allow the mixture to stand 
in cold water for 3 or 4 hours and add 1/5 to ^4 of its volume of a sat¬ 
urated solution of salt, then filter. Wash the flask and filter with the 
salt solution, diluted with 6 parts water, until the filtrate no longer gives 
a precipitate with hydrochloric acid. Add dilute hydrochloric acid to the 
filtrate until precipitation is complete, collect the precipitate on a filter, 
wash and dry over sulphuric acid until of constant weight. 
Method of Baccomo and Sccocianti (1896): 3 Dissolve 1 to 3 grams of 
the oleoresin in a small quantity of ether and shake the solution for % 
hour with an equal volume of an aqueous copper acetate solution. Allow 
the mixture to stand and separate, decant the ethereal liquid and collect 
the precipitate on a tared filter. Wash it successively with water, alco¬ 
hol and ether, then heat at 100°C until of constant weight. When dry 
111.55 parts of the precipitate represent 100 parts of filix acid. 
Method of Schmidt (1903) : 3 Place 5 grams of the oleoresin in a mortar 
and convert it to a coarse powder by triturating it with a sufficient quantity 
of calcined magnesia. Then add 250 cubic centimeters of water and thor¬ 
oughly mix. After the magnesia has settled, decant the aqueous portion 
on a filter. Repeat this operation twice using 150 eubic centimeters of 
water each time. Transfer the combined filtrate to a separatory funnel 
and add hydrochloric acid in sufficient quantity to produce complete pre¬ 
cipitation. Shake out the precipitate with ether, specific gravity 0.720 to 
0.722, added in successive portions (100, 50 and 30 cubic centimeters.) 
After filtering the ethereal shakings, remove the solvent by distillation 
and dry the residue at 100°C. 
Method of From/me (1905):* Dissolve 5 grams of the extract in 30 
grams of ether, add 100 grams of a saturated solution (3 per cent.) of 
barium hydroxide, and shake the mixture vigorously during several minutes. 
Transfer to a separator, and run 86 grams (4 grams of the extract) of the 
lower equeous layer into a flask of 200 eubic centimeters capacity. Add 
2 grams of hydrochloric acid (25 per cent.) and shake out with 3 portions 
of ether, 25, 15, and 10 cubic centimeters. Separate the ether, and filter 
each portion successively through the same plain double filter into an 
1 Cited by Doesterbehn (1898). 
2 This procedure was proposed as a method for the estimation of the 
filix acid. As its nature and the results obtained in its application show that 
it is in reality a method for determining the total constituents of an acid 
character, it has been included here. 
3 The method proposed by Goris and Voisin (1913) is almost identical 
with the above, the only difference being- that 2 to 3 grams of the oleoresin 
are taken instead of 5 grams as directed by Schmidt. 
4 This is the method (but slightly modified) which is official in the British, 
Finnish and Swiss pharmacopoeias. 
