302 
Oils  of  Erigeron  and  Fireweed. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\     June,  1887. 
nium  and  lastly  with  distilled  water  until  the  liquid  has  a  pale  yellow 
color  and  scarcely  perceptible,  sweet  taste.  The  mixed  liquids  if  tur- 
bid (owing  to  the  presence  of  carbonate  of  calcium)  must  be  filtered. 
To  the  filtrate  is  added  by  agitation  a  solution  of  75  grams  of  sulphate 
of  quinidine  in  500  cc.  luke-warm  distilled  water  and  300  grams  of 
hydrochloric  acid  sp.  gr.  1.124.  If  after  the  lapse  of  one  hour  the  so- 
lution should  have  a  strong  alkaline  reaction  it  must  be  neutralized 
with  dilute  acetic  acid.  It  must  be  stirred  frequently  and  then  put 
aside  for  several  hours.  The  precipitate  is  collected  on  a  wetted  linen 
strainer  and  washed  with  cold  distilled  water,  gently  expressed  and 
spread  on  porcelain  plates  in  layers  about  1.5  cm.  thick  and  only  cov- 
ering one-half  of  the  plate.  The  plates  are  placed  in  a  slanting  posi- 
tion so  that  the  liquid  can  drain  olf.  When  dry  it  is  powdered  in  a 
cold  porcelain  mortar.  The  yield  is  about  200  grams.  Thus  prepared 
glycyrrhizate  of  quinidine  is  a  grey-yellow  powder,  of  a  bitter-sweet 
taste,  insoluble  in  water  and  sparingly  soluble  in  alcohol.  Acids  and 
alkalies  decompose  it.  Its  composition  corresponds  to  the  formula 
C20H24]S[2O2-C!44H63NO18+2H2O=1577.  It  contains  41.09  per  cent, 
quinidine. — Ph.  Zeitung,  XXXI,  641. 
ESSENTIAL  OIL  PAPERS. 
By  Albert  M.  Todd. 
2.  Oils  of  Erigeron  and  Fireweed. 
The  oil  of  erigeron  (oleum  erigerontis  canadensis)  and  the  oil  of  true 
fireweed,  (  oleum  erechthitis  hieracifolia?),  are  distilled  from  plants  of 
the  most  distinct  types  possible,  and  seem  to  be  almost  as  distinct  in 
therapeutic  action ;  both  are  highly  valuable  in  medicine  when  pure, 
but  their  usefulness  has  been  nearly  destroyed  and  their  value  little 
understood  since  they  have  been  almost  universally  confounded  with 
each  other,  both  in  science  aud  commerce,  and  even  when  not  so  con- 
founded are  rarely  met  with  in  a  state  of  purity. 
A  growing  interest  being  manifested  in  the  subject,  J  had  already 
made  some  observations  with  the  oils  referred  to,  which  interest  was 
further  enhanced  by  an  urgent  request  from  Messrs.  J.  U.  &  C.  G. 
Lloyd,  that  I  should  make  more  complete  investigations,  the 
results  of  which  might  be  embodied  in  their  valuable  work  now  in 
progress  on  the  "  Drugs  and  Medicines  of  North  America.'-    I  also 
