'^""iug^^issL™'}  ^'^^^^  Senega.  387 
benzol,  benzin,  acetic  acid  and  turpentine.  It  gives  an  acid  reaction 
with  blue  litmus.  Dissolved  in  hydrate  of  potassiuui,  it  produces  a 
golden-yellow  solution.  The  filtrate  from  this  resin  was  freed  from 
lead,  filtered  and  evaporated  to  dryness,  leaving  a  light-brown  soft 
resin,  having  an  odor  similar  to  that  precipitated  by  alcoholic  solution 
of  acetate  of  lead  and  solution  of  ammonia.  It  gives  no  reaction 
with  litmus  paper.  It  is  soluble  in  ether,  alcohol,  chloroform  and  in 
hydrate  of  potassium,  from  which  solution  it  is  precipitated  by  hydro- 
"chloric  acid.  It  is  insoluble  in  benzol,  benzin,  acetic  acid  and  methy- 
lic  alcohol.  Both  resins  were  found  to  be  glucosides  by  applying  the 
;same  test  as  with  the  first.  Sulphuric  acid  added  to  any  of  the  three 
resins  produces  a  carmine  color  which  changes  to  brown  and  after- 
wards black. 
Finely  powdered  root  was  triturated  in  a  mortar  with  water,  thrown 
on  a  strainer,  washed  repeatedly  with  water  to  extract  starch  granules. 
These  were  repeatedly  washed  with  water  by  decantation,  collected  on 
a  filter  and  dried.  The  granules  are  of  a  grayish  color  and  when 
viewed  under  the  microscope  somewhat  resemble  wheat  starch.  A 
decoction  of  the  root,  when  tested  with  a  solution  of  iodine,  gave  a 
blue  coloration. 
FALSE  SENEGA. 
By  John  M.  Mais(  h. 
In  1876  ("Proceedings  Amer.  Phar.  Assoc.,"  1876,  p.  661)  Mr. 
Wm.  Saunders  directed  attention  to  a  root  of  which  large  quantities 
were  then  in  the  market,  and  which  was  sold  as  senega,  but  was  defi- 
cient in  acridity.  In  endeavoring  to  ascertain  its  origin,  I  was  able 
to  trace  one  lot  of  it  to  Greene  county.  Mo.,  where  it  was  said  to  have 
been  collected  ("Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1877,  p.  517),  but  did  not  suc- 
ceed in  obtaining  either  specimens  of  the  root  collected  in  that  local- 
ity or  of  the  plant.  My  attempts  to  solve  the  question,  with  the  aid 
of  several  pharmacists  near  the  locality  named,  were  likewise  unsuc- 
cessful. In  the  meantime  the  drug  continued  to  appear  in  the  mar- 
ket, and  on  inquiry  it  was  usually  said  to  have  come  from  Texas,  or 
another  of  our  Southern  States. 
The  same  root  has  likewise  been  noticed  in  Europe ;  among  others, 
it  was  described  by  Mr.  Thos.  Greenish  ("Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1878, 
p.  522),  who  regarded  it  as  young  and  immature  senega,  a  conclusion 
