540 
Aralia  Niidicanlis. 
/ Am.  Tour,  Pharm. 
X     October,  1897. 
brown  color.  Upon  application  of  heat  it  reduced  Fehling's  solution 
and  precipitated  with  a  solution  of  basic  acetate  of  lead,  with  a 
solution  of  borax,  with  alcohol,  and  with  ether.  With  a  solution  of 
ferric  chloride  in  the  cold  it  caused  no  precipitate.  The  presence 
of  mucilaginous  matter  was  thus  shown. 
As  the  next  experiment,  a  sample  of  coarsely  cut  Aralia  nudi- 
caulis  was  distilled  with  steam,  the  distillate  showing  the  presence 
of  an  agreeable-smelling  volatile  oil.   The  liquid  comes  over  milky, 
K 
Fig.  4. — Entire  rhizome,  segment,  cross-section. 
A,  pitted  vessels  ;  B,  lignified  cells  ;  D,  cork  cells  ;  Ey  medullary  rays  ;  E' 
medullary  rays,  prolonged  into  bark  ;  F,  cambium  layer  ;  G,  resin  and  oil  cells  ; 
Ht  phellogen  ;  D  to  F>  bark  ;  Fto  I,  wood  ;  I  to  K,  pith. 
and  oily  globules  soon  collect,  floating  upon  the  surface.  The 
microscopical  examination  had  already  revealed  that  this  oil  resides 
in  the  bark  of  the  rhizome,  and  upon  distilling  some  of  the  fresh 
bark  alone,  without  the  wood  and  pith  of  the  rhizome,  quite  appre- 
ciable quantities  of  oil  were  found. 
Whether  the  rhizome  gathered  in  the  fall  contains  more  or  less 
