^"N^v^'^issi^™'}        Examination  of  Ericaceous  Plants.  549 
EXAMINATION  OF  ERICACEOUS  PLANTS. 
By  Edward  N.  Smith,  Ph.G. 
From  an  Inaugural  Essay. 
Specimens  of  Chimaphila  raaculata,  Pursh,  Pyrola  elliptica,  Nut- 
tall,  P.  chlorantha,  Stvartz,  and  P.  rotnndifolia,  var.  asarifolia,  IlicJi- 
aux,  Avere  collected  by  myself  during  the  months  of  June  and  July, 
1880,  carefully  dried  and  powdered.  With  a  view  of  ascertaining  if 
they  contained  the  same  constituents  as  found  in  other  ericaceous 
plants,  I  followed  the  process  of  Julius  Jungmann  Amer.  Jour. 
Phar.,''  1875,  p.  202),  by  which  he  isolated  the  constituents  of  Uva 
ursi. 
The  coarsely  powdered  leaves  were  exhausted  with  water  by  perco- 
lation, the  infusion  heated  to  the  boiling  point  and  strained,  when  a 
flocculent  coagulum  of  albumen  was  left  on  the  strainer.  The  infu- 
sion was  then  concentrated  and  treated  with  freshly  prepared  hydrated 
oxide  of  lead.  The  precipitate  was  separated  by  a  filter  and  the  fil- 
trate still  more  concentrated  and  divided  into  two  portions;  the  first 
was  set  aside  in  a  warm  place  to  evaporate  spontaneously,  the  second 
was  treated  with  strong  alcohol  which  produced  a  bulky  precipitate. 
The  precipitate  was  separated  by  a  filter  and  the  alcoholic  filtrate 
was  divided  into  two  portions ;  the  first  was  set  aside  in  a  warm  place 
to  evaporate  spontaneously,  the  second  was  evaporated  to  a  syrupy 
consistence,  then  treated  with  ether  and  the  ethereal  solution  evapor- 
ated at  ordinary  temperature.  The  residue  consisted  of  a  small  quan- 
tity of  crystals  in  prismatic  needles  mixed  with  a  considerable  quan- 
tity of  resinous  matter. 
The  alcoholic  solution,  after  evaporation,  yielded  a  dark  colored 
extract  which  was  re-dissolved  in  alcohol,  then  treated  with  animal 
charcoal,  filtered  and  again  evaporated  at  ordinary  temperature.  The 
residue  contained  a  small  quantity  of  acicular  crystals. 
The  aqueous  solution,  after  evaporation,  yielded  a  soft  extractive 
mass  Avhich  was  treated  with  a  mixture  of  alcohol  and  ether  ;  the  solu- 
tion was  evaporated  at  ordinary  temperature  and  yielded  crystals  in 
prismatic  needles  having  a  silky  lustre. 
All  the  crystals  thus  far  obtained  proved  to  be  arbutin. 
A  second  quantity  of  coarsely  powdered  leaves  was  boiled  with  water, 
the  decoction  strained  and  then  treated  Avith  a  concentrated  cold  aqueous 
solution  of  acetate  of  lead  as  long  as  a  precipitate  was  thereby  pro- 
duced.   The  precipitate  was  separated  by  a  filter  and  the  filtrate 
