234  Gelsemium.  * Am- Jour- pharm- 
May,  ]897 
were  the  oxide  of  mercury  used  in  place  of  the  metal.  Calculations 
show  that  the  finished  product  would  cost  about  one  and  one-sixth 
times  as  much  as  it  does  by  the  present  process. 
305  Cherry  Street,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
GELSEMIUM. 
ANALYSIS   OF  ROOT,   RHIZOME   AND  STEM. 
By  L.  E.  Sayre. 
In  the  January  issue  of  this  journal,  attention  was  called  to  the  fact 
that  in  the  commercial  drug  gelsemium,  which  should  consist  of 
rhizome  and  root,  were  frequently  found  portions  of  the  stem  in 
varying  proportions.  It  was  stated  on  the  authority  of  Gerald 
McCarthy,  botanist  of  the  North  Carolina  Agricultural  Experi- 
ment Station,  that  the  stem  was  apparently  collected  and  used  to 
adulterate  the  drug. 
It  was  further  stated  that  the  stem  probably  had  no  medicinal  value, 
but  of  this  no  definite  statement  could  be  made  until  an  analysis, 
then  in  progress,  was  completed.  Mr.  \Y.  V.  Ingham,  a  pharmacy 
student  of  the  University  of  Kansas,  has  made  this  analysis,  and 
also  made  a  comparison  of  the  active  constituents  in  the  three 
parts  of  the  plant  mentioned. 
Since  the  time  above  referred  to,  gelsemium  root  has  been  ob- 
tained from  different  quarters,  with  a  view  of  ascertaining  the  quality 
of  the  market's  supply.  As  a  result,  it  is  safe  to  state  that  there  is 
no  difficulty  in  obtaining  a  drug  free  from  stem  from  houses  hav- 
ing an  established  reputation  as  dealers  in  crude  drugs.  The  article 
supplied  from  several  quarters  was  remarkably  free  from  fragments 
of  stem. 
For  analytical  purposes  a  supply  of  the  stem  was  obtained,  not 
only  from  the  commercial  drug,  but  from  a  living  plant  of  six  years' 
growth,  cultivated  in  a  nursery. 
Mr.  Ingham,  in  order  to  perfect  himself  in  the  work,  made  a 
number  of  trial  analyses  of  reliable  powders  of  gelsemium,  and  thor- 
oughly studied  the  process  of  isolation  and  quantitative  determina- 
tion of  the  active  constituents. 
The  report  of  his  analysis  is  briefly  stated  as  follows  : 
