538 
Aralia  Nudicaulis. 
/ Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I     October,  1897. 
CHEMISTRY. 
Samples  of  Aralia  nudicaulis  were  gathered  in  the  fall  in  the  hilly 
woods  in  Bergen  County,  N.  J.,  and  most  of  the  chemical  exami- 
nations were  made  on  these  samples.  A  further  supply  was  collected 
in  the  following  spring,  when  the  flowers  of  the  plant  were  in 
bloom. 
The  general  plan  of  the  work  was : 
(1)  To  determine  the  presence  or  absence  of  alkaloids  or  gluco- 
sides. 
(2)  To  determine  the  presence  of  other  important  constituents. 
 ■  1 
Fig-  3- — Wood,  from  pith  to  bark,  longitudinal  section. 
(3)  To  undertake  a  systematic  analysis  and  estimation  of  the 
constituents. 
For  the  first  part  of  the  work,  testing  for  alkaloids  and  glucosides, 
samples  of  the  drug  gathered  in  the  fall  as  well  as  in  the  spring 
were  finely  ground  and  digested  for  three  days  in  a  closely  stoppered 
flask  with  Prollius'  fluid.  After  filtering,  the  liquid  was  treated  with 
acidulated  water  (sulphuric  acid  I  part,  water  5  parts)  and  the  aque- 
ous liquid  submitted  to  examination.    Wagner's  reagent,  tannin, 
