282 
Root  of  Phytolacca  Decandra. 
\.m.  Jour.  Pharni. 
June,  1897. 
Woody  fibre 
Starch  .  .  . 
66*500 
20*000 
Tannin,  gum  and  saccharine  matter 
Gum  resin  
Potassa  
Iron   .  . 
Fixed  oil  ....  
Silica  and  carbonaceous  matter    .  . 
5*375 
2-625 
2*000 
I'OOO 
•875 
•500 
98-»75 
In  the  Chem.  Centrbl.  for  1849  a  short  note  states  that,  accord- 
ing to  Landerer,5  all  parts  of  the  Phytolacca  decandra,  when  fresh, 
have  an  emetic  and  purgative  effect,  which  disappears  on  cooking. 
In  Greece  the  young  shoots  and  leaves  are  eaten  as  greens.  They 
are  employed  as  a  vermifuge. 
An  account  by  C.  H.  Cressler6  records  the  fact  that  the  inhalation 
of  the  powdered  root  produces  soreness  of  the  throat  and  chest, 
severe  coughing  and  inflammation  of  the  eyes. 
Terreil,7  in  1880,  described  phytolaccic  acid  which  he  obtained 
from  the  fruit  of  P.  decandra  and  P.  Kaempferi.  The  acid  is  uncrys- 
tallizable  and  dries  without  alteration.  It  forms  a  translucent, 
gummy  syrup,  yellow-brown  in  color,  not  deliquescent ;  easily  solu- 
ble in  water  and  alcohol,  scarcely  in  ether.  The  watery  solution 
has  an  acid  reaction.  It  can  be  heated  to  boiling  without  change, 
but  on  addition  of  hydrochloric  or  sulphuric  acid,  is  converted  into 
a  gelatinous  mass,  easily  soluble  in  weak  alkalies,  ammonia,  etc.  * 
Balland  examined  the  berries  of  P.  dioica.  He  determined  the 
percentages  of  water,  wax,  sugar,  gum,  etc.  There  was  2  6  per 
cent,  of  an  organic  undetermined  acid,  which  was  thought  to  be 
similar  to  the  phytolaccic  acid  of  Terreil. 
Wm.  F.  Pape8  found  in  the  root  of  P.  decandra  a  dark-brown  fixed 
oil,  tannin,  gum,  starch,  sugar,  resin,  organic  acid  and  coloring  mat- 
ter. The  ash  contained  potassium,  iron,  calcium,  chlorine,  sulphuric 
and  phosphoric  acids.  Crystals  of  potassium  nitrate  were  obtained 
from  an  alcoholic  extract  of  the  root.    Tests  with  iodo-hydrargyrate 
hLanderer.  (Quoted  in  an  editorial  note.)  Phytolacca  Decandra  als  Heil- 
mittel.    Chan.  CetitrbL,  831,  1849. 
6 Cressler,  Chas.  H.  Poke  Root.  Poisonous  effects  from  inhalation  of  the 
powder.    Am.  Jour.  Pharm.,  47.  196,  1875. 
'Terreil,  A.    Comptes  rendus,  91,  856-58,  1880. 
'^Pape.  Wm.  F.    On  Phytolaccae  Radix.   Am.  Jour.  Pharm.,  53.  597,  1881. 
