ANALYSIS  OF  THE  BOOT  OF  BRYONIA  ALBA.  249 
on  plates,  the  operation  is  performed  in  a  capsale  of  the  tempera- 
ture of  the  water  bath,  the  salt  is  obtained  in  beautiful  bottle 
green  transparent  masses,  like  soluble  cream  of  tartar. 
Thus  prepared  citro-ammoniacal   pyrophosphate  of  iron  is 
very  soluble  in  water,  its  solution  does  not  possess  the  charac- 
teristic disagreeable  taste  of  the  salts  of  iron,  and  the  chemical 
properties  of  the  metal  are  in  part  masked,  as  in  the  tartrate  of 
iron  and  potassa  and  the  pyrophosphate  of  iron  and  soda.  Ac- 
cording to  M.  Robiquet  100  parts  of  this  salt  contains  of 
Pyrophosphate  of  Iron  (anhydrous)  61.736 
Citrate  of  Ammonia  28.967 
Water  of  combination  6.315 
Repertoire  de  Pharmaeie. 
ANALYSIS  OF  THE  ROOT  OF  BRYONIA  ALBA. 
By  G.  F.  Walz. 
Ten  lbs.  of  the  dry  root  were  exhausted  by  alcohol  of  0-830  sp. 
gr.,  the  alcohol  distilled  off  in  the  water  bath,  and  the  residue 
evaporated  to  dryness.  This  extract  was  treated  with  cold 
water ;  the  reddish  yellow  solution  had  an  acrid  bitter  taste, 
was  rendered  turbid  by  sugar  of  lead,  but  precipitated  with  a 
yellow  color  by  subacetate  of  lead.  This  precipitate  after  hav- 
ing been  thoroughly  washed,  was  decomposed  by  hydrosulphuric 
acid  ;  the  solution  was  evaporated  to  dryness  to  drive  off  acetic 
acid,  when  the  residue  weighed  about  5  drachms.  Absolute 
ether  took  up  the  greater  part  of  it  with  a  reddish  brown  color, 
and  left  after  evaporation  a  crummy  mass,  which  was  partly 
dissolved  by  absolute  alcohol,  while  the  balance  was  separated 
in  white  crystals — bryonitin.  The  residue  which  had  not  been 
dissolved  by  ether,  proved  to  be  gum,  reddish  brown  coloring 
matter  and  bryonin ;  the  coloring  matter  was  removed  by  sugar 
of  lead,  the  gum  by  subacetate  of  lead,  and  after  the  removal 
of  the  lead,  the  bryonin  was  precipitated  by  tannin,  a  little  ad- 
hering bryonitin  being  dissolved  by  ether.  The  sulphuret  of 
lead  obtained  as  above,  was  exhausted  with  alcohol,  which  left 
a  brown,  brittle,  glossy  and  bitter  residue,  insoluble  in  ether  and 
not  precipitable  by  an  alcoholic  solution  of  sugar  of  lead. 
