ON  THE  RESINOIDS. 
301 
trate  was  now  mixed  with  twice  its  volume  of  distilled  water,  and 
the  mixture  evaporated  to  expel  the  alcohol,  and  to  reduce  con- 
siderably the  bulk  of  the  solution.  In  order  to  remove  the  soft 
resin,  filtration  was  resorted  to,  the  concentrated  liquor  was 
carefully  saturated  with  carbonate  of  potassa,  but  nothing  was 
precipitated.  A  large  excess  of  that  carbonate  was  now  added, 
and  the  solution  agitated  with  four  times  its  volume  of  ether, 
and  afterwards  set  aside,  that  the  ethereal  part  of  the  liquid  might 
separate  from  the  watery  portion.  When  this  separation  had 
taken  place,  the  ethereal  portion  was  removed  by  a  pipette,  and 
exposed  to  spontaneous  evaporation  in  a  capsule.  According  to 
Mr,  Bastick,  this  ethereal  solution  produced  no  reaction  on  lit- 
mus ;  but  on  the  contrary,  according  to  my  experiments,  the  solu- 
tion had  a  decided  acid  reaction,  and  produced  no  crystals,  but 
a  soft  dark  colored  resin,  insoluble  in  water,  slightly  soluble  in 
alcohol,  and  readily  soluble  in  ether,  bitter  to  the  taste,  and 
producing  a  tingling  sensation  on  the  tongue,  like  that  of  the 
root.  I  then  determined,  if  possible,  to  ascertain  whether  or 
not  its  activity  did  exist  in  the  separated  resin.  I  took  five 
grains  of  the  resin,  and  in  the  course  of  two  hours  I  began 
to  experience  the  given  characteristics  of  the  drug,  and  in  a 
short  period  of  time  it  produced  three  copious  evacuations  with 
a  nauseating  sensation.  Hence  my  candid  belief  is,  so  far  as  my 
experiments  will  support  me,  that  the  so-called  Helleborin  of 
Mr.  Bastick  is  simply  crystals  of  a  salt  of  potassa. 
PODOPHYLLIN. 
There  is  probably  no  subject  in  the  vocabulary  of  American 
indigenous  plants  which  has  baffled  the  minds  of  Pharmaceutists 
more  than  that  concerning  the  principle  or  principles  existing  in 
the  root  of  Podophyllum  peltatum.  After  much  research  over  the 
results  of  the  most  recent  experimenters,  but  little  light  has  been 
given  to  the  subject  since  the  paper  published  by  William 
Hodgson,  in  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  volume  third, 
page  273,  1832  ;  in  which  he  describes  it  as  being  the  bitter  prin- 
ciple, and  which  has  been  considered  as  Podophyllin,and  prepared 
in  the  following  manner  :  One  pound  of  the  dried  root  was 
boiled  in  six  pints  of  water  for  half  an  hour,  the  decoction 
then  strained  off,  and  the  residue  pressed.    The  liquor  was  some- 
