Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1897. 
Parthenium  Hysterophorous. 
179 
its  special  method  of  heating,  was  agitated  with  successive  portions 
of  ether  until  the  last  ethereal  portion  possessed  no  bitter  taste. 
The  aqueous  liquid  after  such  extraction  was  carefully  examined  for 
glucose.  Trommer's,  Bottger's  and  the  picric  acid  test  were  applied 
in  each  case  with  negative  result. 
The  ethereal  extract  on  evaporation  yielded  a  brown  syrupy  mass. 
Crystallization  from  alcohol  and  acetic  ether  was  attempted  without 
success.  By  treatment  with  a  small  quantity  of  water,  the  substance 
solidified  to  an  amorphous  mass,  which  was  still  yellow  from  con- 
tamination with  a  resinous  substance  that  reddened  with  solution 
of  soda.  This  body  melted  at  about  1 70  0  C.  and  is  supposed  to  be  the 
original  substance.  Other  portions  of  the  residue,  after  careful 
washing  with  ether,  melted  at  1700. 
The  second  method  was  in  boiling  an  alcoholic  solution  of  parthenin 
with  a  small  quantity  of  diluted  sulphuric  acid,  addition  of  water, 
evaporation  of  the  alcohol  and  extraction  with  ether.  The  aqueous 
residue  gave  no  indication  of  glucose. 
Since  not  a  glucoside,  parthenin  was  expected  to  possess  reactions 
similar  to  some  of  the  proximate  principles.  Its  solubility  in  solu- 
tion of  soda  suggested  an  analogy  to  santonin,  and  in  that  case  a 
sodium  compound,  similar  to  sodium  santoninate,  might  be  produced. 
To  this  end,  parthenin  was  treated  with  a  diluted  solution  of  soda, 
carbon  dioxide  passed  in  until  saturated  and  the  solution  evaporated 
to  dryness,  the  passage  of  carbon  dioxide  being  continued  to  the 
end  of  the  heating.  The  perfectly  dry  residue  was  treated  with 
absolute  alcohol,  when  the  filtered  alcoholic  extract  yielded  on  spon- 
taneous evaporation  a  yellow  syrup,  which,  on  addition  of  a  small 
quantity  of  water,  solidified  to  a  brownish  yellow  mass,  which  gave 
the  sodium  flame  and  charred  on  heating,  melting  irregularly  but 
not  completely,  until  at  red  heat.  This  was  sparingly  soluble  in 
water,  and  the  aqueous  solution,  which  was  neutral,  yielded  a  pre- 
cipitate with  silver  nitrate. 
An  effort  to  obtain  the  product  after  the  method  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  sodium  santoninate,  dissolving  in  solution  of  soda 
and  crystallizing  the  resulting  product  by  concentration  of  the  solu- 
tion, has  not  yet  met  with  success. 
This  somewhat  superficial  effort  seems  to  indicate  rather  clearly 
the  formation  of  a  sodium  compound  of  parthenin,  which  can  be 
converted  into  a  silver  salt.  The  investigation  of  this  sodium  com- 
pound is  still  continued. 
