Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
March,  1897.  J 
Phytolacca  Decandra. 
I3S 
ANALYSIS  OF  THE  ASH. 
It  seldom  occurs  that  a  common  plant  is  characterized  by  the 
inorganic  substance  it  contains.  In  this  respect  the  poke  weed 
seems  to  be  an  exception  to  the  rule.  Mention  has  been  made  of 
the  large  per  cent,  of  potassium  present,  but  beyond  this  the  writer 
has  been  unable  to  find  any  analyses  of  the  inorganic  part  of  the 
plant.  In  order  to  verify  the  above  statement,  and  to  throw  more 
light  on  the  inorganic  side  of  the  plant,  a  complete  analysis  of  the 
ash  was  made.  The  root  was  carefully  cleaned,  in  order  to  remove 
any  soil  from  the  surface,  carefully  dried  and  analyzed.  Three 
analyses  gave  the  following  average : 
Per  Cent. 
Ash  or  inorganic  matter   I3'38 
The  ash  contained  the  following  constituents : 
Per  Cent. 
Potassium  oxide   41  '62 
Sodium  oxide   4*41 
Calcium  oxide   4*13 
Aluminum  oxide   1*62 
Iron  oxide                                                   .   0*59 
Magnesium  oxide   6*25 
Carbon  dioxide  .  .  .  ,   30*01 
Chlorine   2*25 
Phosphorus  pentoxide   3*54 
Silicon  dioxide   5*21 
Total   99-63 
It  will  be  observed  that  the  plant  is  exceptionally  rich  in  potas- 
sium. It  was  at  first  suspected  that  this  high  per  cent,  of  potassium 
was  characteristic  of  the  locality  from  whence  the  samples  came. 
Samples  from  different  localities  were  examined  with  practically  the 
same  results,  so  that  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  plant  has  the  power 
of  assimilating  large  quantities  of  potassium.  It  has  been  stated 
that  the  leaves  and  stems  of  the  plant  contain  as  high  as  4  2  per 
cent,  of  potassium  hydroxide.  This  is  low  as  compared  with  the 
above  analysis,  inasmuch  as  the  leaves  and  stems  of  plants  invari- 
ably run  higher  than  the  roots  in  inorganic  matter. 
ANALYSIS  OF  THE  GASES  GIVEN  OFF  BY  A  DESTRUCTIVE  DISTILLATION 
OF  THE  ROOT. 
The  gas  obtained  by  a  destructive  distillation  of  the  root  of  this 
plant  has  been  briefly  referred  to  as  having  a  peculiar  odor  and  pro- 
