THE  AMERICANS 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
AUGUST,  1 910 
CHEMICAL  EXAMINATION  OF  THE  TUBEROUS  ROOT 
OF  IPOMCEA  HORS  FALLLE,  HOOKER. 
By  Frederick  B.  Power  and  Harold  Rogerson. 
A  Contribution  from  the  Wellcome  Chemical  Research  Laboratories,  London. 
In  the  Spring  of  1909  one  of  us  was  kindly  presented  by  Mr. 
E.  M.  Holmes,  F.L.S.,  Curator  of  the  [Museum  of  the  Pharmaceu- 
tical Society  of  Great  Britain,  with  a  large  tuberous  root  which 
had  been  received  from  the  West  Indies,  and  was  evidently  the 
product  of  a  species  of  I po intra.  It  had  been  sent  to  Mr.  Holmes 
by  Messrs.  Westmacott  &  Son,  of  Manchester,  England,  who  had 
likewise  favored  him  with  the  following  information  concerning 
it.  "  It  grows  wild,  and  is  not  cultivated  for  any  purpose.  This 
specimen  was  gathered  in  the  woods  of  Maypen,  Clarendon  Dis- 
trict, Jamaica,  by  our  client,  Col.  Barlow,  of  Bury,  who  states  that 
it  is  used  for  starch  making,  although  it  produces  a  yellow  product, 
and  that  it  is  also  used  for  food  in  some  instances." 
The  root  in  question  was  a  very  large  one,  and,  as  it  could 
not  conveniently  be  preserved  in  its  entire,  fresh  state,  it  was 
thought  that  it  might  be  utilized  for  a  chemical  examination,  so 
far  at  least  as  the  amount  of  material  would  permit.  Some  addi- 
tional interest  was  imparted  to  the  subject  by  the  fact  that  the 
present  authors  had  recently  made  a  complete  chemical  study  of 
the  stems  of  Ipomcea  purpurea,  Roth,1  and  also  of  the  official  jalap,2 
from  Ipomcea  Purga,  Hayne  (Exogonhim  Purga,  Benth). 
In  order  to  ascertain  the  botanical  source  of  the  root  referred 
1This  Journal,  1908,  80,  pp.  251-286. 
2Tourn,  Amer.  Chem.  Soc,  1910,  32,  pp.  80-113. 
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