210 
ON  PODOPHYLLUM  PELTATIN. 
writers  on  this  drug.  I  took  two  grains  of  the  resin,  soluble  in 
alcohol,  which  proved  an  active  cathartic,  causing  eight  copious 
stools  during  one  day,  whilst  two  grains  of  the  resin,  soluble  in 
alcohol  and  ether,  only  produced  one  stool." 
Note. — The  results  obtained  by  the  author  differ  in  several  respects 
from  those  of  other  experimenters.  In  a  recent  trial  of  a  process  for  podo- 
phyllin,  with  a  view  to  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia,  we  obtained  103  grs.  of 
crude  resin,  from  1920  grains  of  the  dried  root,  collected  in  the  autumn, 
which  is  equal  to  4.3  per  cent,  of  the  dried  root.  Mr.  Tilden  (see  Pro- 
ceedings Amer.  Pharm.  Assoc.  1859,  page  334,)  in  one  analysis  obtained 
5.25  per  cent,  of  crude  resin  from  the  root  collected  in  April,  of  which 
2.85  per  cent,  was  resin,  soluble  in  ether,  and  in  the  other,  5.68  per  cent, 
of  which  5.51  per  cent,  was  soluble  in  ether.  In  the  above  four  analyse? 
of  Mr.  Parrish,  the  percentage  of  the  crude  resin  in  the  dry  roots  was  3.12 
per  cent.,  3.49  per  cent.,  3.64  per  cent,  and  3.85  per  cent.,  respectively,  in 
the  order  above  indicated.  As  his  examinations  were  made  after  Mr. 
Tilden's  spring  root  analysis,  and  before  his  autumn  analysis  and  ours,  we 
must  infer  that  the  first  was  too  late,  and  the  last  too  early,  to  get  the 
largest  percentage  of  resinous  product.  As  regards  the  percentage  of 
resin,  soluble  in  ether,  the  experiment  is  imperfect,  from  the  fact  that  the 
crude  resin  used  must  have  been  a  mixture  of  that  obtained  by  at  least 
two  experiments,  as  in  no  instance  did  he  get  more  than  74  grs.  of  the 
podophyllin.  In  regard  to  the  results  of  the  therapeutic  effects  of  the  two 
resins,  we  can  only  say  that  the  results  of  Mr.  Parrish  agree  with  those 
of  John  K.  Lewis,  (Amer.  Jour.  Pharm.  vol.  xviii.,  page  169,)  the  original 
experimenter  on  this  principle,  and  differs  from  those  of  John  W.  Cadbury, 
(ibid.,  vol.  39th,)  and  Harvey  Allen,  (ibid.,  vol.  31,)  who  found  the  ethereal 
resin  the  more  active.  As  the  medicinal  crude  resin  of  commerce  contains 
them  both,  it  is  perhaps  of  less  importance  to  determine  this  point ;  but  as 
Mr.  Tilden's  results  show  conclusively  that  the  relative  proportion  of  the 
two  resins  varies  very  considerably  with  the  season  of  collection,  it  is  cer- 
tainly desirable  to  determine  the  following  questions  : 
1.  At  what  season  of  the  year  does  the  dry  podophyllum  root  afford  the 
most  resin  ? 
2.  Which  of  the  two  resins  of  podophyllin,  as  separated  by  non-alcoholic 
ether,  is  the  more  active  cathartic  ? 
3.  At  what  period  of  the  growth  of  the  root  is  the  more  active  resin 
most  largely  developed? 
4.  Do  roots  of  the  first  year's  growth  from  the  seed  possess  as  much 
resin  and  cathartic  power  as  older  roots,  and  if  not,  how  old  should  the 
root  be  to  be  most  valuable  for  medical  use. — Editor  Amer.  Jour.  Phar- 
macy.] 
