Am.  Jour.  Pbarm.  \ 
May,  1897.  J 
The  Str itcture  of  Leptandra. 
235 
Constituents 
Ingredient 
Percentcig'e  in 
Rhizome. 
Ingredient 
Root. 
Ingredient 
Stem. 
3" 
3-8 
°'5 
o-4 
Trace. 
5-6 
7'4 
3'2 
4*4 
2-4 
3'8 
o-8 
07 
0*2 
C17 
0-37 
o"3 
- 
6-8 
7-6 
63 
Ash   
2  6 
2'2 
27 
27 
2-8 
1 '9 
27*17 
26-97 
22-8 
72  83 
73  "03 
77-2 
100' 
100* 
IOO* 
Dragendorff's  method  was  followed  except  in  the  case  of  the  gelse- 
mine  and  gelsemic  acid,  where  a  modified  method  was  used.  (See 
p.  332,  Blyth,  "  Poisons;  Effects  and  Detection,"  1884.) 
The  gelsemic  acid  was  obtained  in  transparent  needle-shaped  crys- 
tals. The  alkaloid  was  obtained  only  in  the  amorphous  state,  and 
in  that  state  estimated. 
It  would  seem  from  the  above  analysis  that  the  principles  upon 
which  the  drug  depends  for  its  activity  are  absent  or  present  only  in 
small  quantities  in  the  stem,  so  that  the  admixture  of  any  apprecia- 
ble amount  of  stem  must  correspondingly  reduce  the  value  of  the 
drug  as  a  medicine. 
THE  STRUCTURE  OF  LEPTANDRA. 
By  A.  P.  BreithaupT,  Ph.G. 
Contribution  from  the  Botanical  Laboratory  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy. 
The  official  Leptandra  consists  of  the  rhizome  and  roots  of 
Veronica  virginica,  Linne,  belonging  to  the  natural  order  Scrophu- 
lariacese,  growing  throughout  the  United  States  east  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, being  found  in  mountainous  meadows  in  the  South  and  rich 
woods  in  the  North. 
