1012 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 
Erlenmeyer flask of 200 cubic centimeters capacity which has been pre¬ 
viously weighed. Wash the filter with 10 cubic centimeters more of ether, 
and finally distill off the ether and dry the residue at 100°C. Weigh after 
allowing it to stand in a desiccator for half an hour. The weight multi¬ 
plied by 25 will give the percentage of crude filicin in the sample. 
The striking similarity in the above methods is quite ap¬ 
parent and needs no special mention. Attention, however, is 
invited to the principal point of difference, namely, the reagent 
employed for the purpose of rendering the constituents to be 
determined soluble in water. In the methods under considera¬ 
tion, ammonia water, magnesium oxide and barium hydroxide 
have been made use of. As the amount of crude filicin ob¬ 
tained has been shown to depend to a considerable extent upon 
which one of these reagents is employed, the difference in the 
results reported in the literature in this connection is readily 
accounted for. The importance of this factor is clearly brought 
out in the following data obtained by Hill: 
Table 28 —Influence of different alkalies on the percentage of crude 
filicin obtained. 
Alkali 
K 2 CO 3 
1 per cent 
KOH 
6per cent. 
KOH 
Mg (OH) 2 ) 
Ca(OH) 2 
Ba(OH )2 
Per cent, of crude 
filicin... 
37.6 
37.9 
38.8 
13.6 
20.0 
21.6 
These results would appear to indicate that potassium hy¬ 
droxide is the most efficient reagent for effecting a soluble com¬ 
bination of the constituents comprising the so-called crude 
filicin. The data, however, are misleading in that the strong 
alkali combines with other material therapeutically inert, and 
thereby causes the results to be high. While there is no in¬ 
formation of a physiological nature at hand to substantiate the 
statement that barium hydroxide is the best reagent for this 
purpose, it is nevertheless, thought to be the most satisfactory 
from a chemical stand point at least. The method of Fromme, 
in which the latter is directed to be used, was, therefore, em¬ 
ployed in the evaluation of the oleoresins examined in the 
laboratory. The results obtained in these analyses, together 
with those reported by other workers are given in the table 
which follows: 
