18 
ON HYDRANGEA ARBORESCENS. 
3. One portion of extract, 2, was mixed with 250 grains of 
calcined magnesia, and digested on a sand-bath for four hours, it 
was then thrown on a filter, washed and dried ; the result, ex- 
clusive of loss, weighed 260 grains ; of (a.) this powder 100 
grains was placed in a flask and boiled twice successively in one 
and a half fluid ounce of chloroform, the liquid was filtered and 
evaporated below 180°, yielding a soft, resin-like substance, 
weighing one and a half grains ; it is soluble in alcohol, and is 
neutral to turmeric and litmus. 
4. 100 grains of the powder (3) was treated as in the last 
experiment, using absolute alcohol instead of chloroform — the 
result was a soft resinous substance, resembling 3a., weighing 
two grains, soluble in chloroform, partly soluble in ether, neutral 
to litmus and turmeric. 
5. One third of the extract, 2, was boiled for one hour, with 
four ounces of solution of potassa, three ounces of chloroform 
were added, and the boiling continued a few minutes longer ; 
after the chloroform had subsided, it was separated from the su- 
pernatant liquid, and allowed to evaporate spontaneously. An 
extract like substance resulted, weighing twenty grains, spa- 
ringly soluble in ether and alcohol, neutral to turmeric and 
litmus. 
These results tend to prove the absence of an alkaloid ; the 
matters obtained as above, are almost wholly soft resin, and 
proved, except 1, to be inert, when tried by the writer upon 
himself. 
Examination of the Ashes. 
(a.) 2000 grains of the root were incinerated in a crucible, 
yielding 100 grains of an almost white ash. 
(b.) Thirty-three and a third grains of the ashes were dis- 
placed with boiling distilled water, till all the salts soluble in that 
menstruum were dissolved : the solution was alkaline to turmeric, 
and reddened litmus papers, and, on evaporation, yielded seven 
grains, or twenty-one per cent, of a white saline matter. 
(<?.) To three grains of the latter was added one ounce of dis- 
tilled water, but this quantity being insufficient to dissolve it, a 
few drops of muriatic acid was added, which caused a perfect 
solution. The acid caused a brisk effervescence, and the evolu- 
tion of an odorless gas, showing the presence of carbonates. 
