CAULOPHYLLUM  ffHALICTROIDES,  (BLUE  COHOSH.)  205 
tions.  The  yield  of  the  crop  being  very  small,  I  was  unable  to 
pursue  my  investigations  upon  them  any  further. 
The  solution  separated  by  nitration  from  the  precipitate,  pro- 
duced by  the  neutral  acetate  of  lead;  was  now  mixed  with  a  so- 
lution of  subacetate  of  lead,  as  long  as  thereby  any  deposit  was 
effected.  This  precipitate  was  likewise  collected  on  a  filter  and 
washed  with  water.  The  filtrate  was  freed  from  lead  contained 
therein  by  passing  through  the  solution  hydro-sulphuric  acid  in 
excess.  The  produced  sulphuret  of  lead  was  then  separated  by 
filtration,  and  the  hydro-sulphuric  acid  expelled  from  the  filtrate 
by  heating  and  evaporating  to  a  syrupy  consistence.  This  evap- 
orated residue  was  mixed  with  alcohol,  sp.  gr.  -835,  and  agitated, 
whereby  a  dark  brown  extractive  mass  was  separated.  The  al- 
coholic liquid,  after  being  separated  from  this  extractive  mass, 
was  mixed  with  an  equal  volume  of  ether  and  agitated,  when 
again  a  light  brownish  body  was  separated.  I  tested  this  latter 
body  by  Trommer's  test  for  sugar,  but  with  a  negative  result. 
The  ethereal  solution  yielded,  on  evaporating  spontaneously, 
crystals  similar  to  those  already  described. 
Having  used  up  all  my  stock  of  root  in  the  above  mentioned  ex- 
periments, and  being  somewhat  encouraged  by  the  isolation  of  a 
crystalline  body,  also  having  found  its  ready  solubility  in  boiling 
alcohol,  I  had  no  doubt  now  but  that  I  should  be  able  to  obtain 
it  in  large  enough  quantities  to  determine  its  true  character,  but 
in  this  I  was  disappointed.  Having  procured  lOlbs  of  the  root 
in  the  pressed  state,  put  up  by  the  Shakers,  New  Lebanon,  N.  Y., 
and  wishing  to  dry  it  to  facilitate  its  reduction  to  powder,  I  ob- 
served, in  garbling  it,  that  it  contained  portions  of  a  root  of  a 
yellow  color,  which,  on  close  examination,  proved  to  be  the  root 
of  Hydrastis  Canadensis;  this  existing  in  the  proportion  of 
about  one-third  of  the  whole  quantity.  Thinking  that  there  might 
have  been  an  accidental  admixture  I  returned  it,  but  was  some- 
what surprised  that  I  could  not  find  a  single  pound  in  the  market, 
without  more  or  less  of  this  admixture.  Is  this  accidental  or  in- 
tentional on  the  part  of  the  parties  who  put  up  and  send  this 
mixed  drug  into  the  market  ?  This  is  one  of  the  objections  to 
the  buying  and  selling  of  herbs  and  roots  in  this  pressed  and 
wrapped  condition.     Through  inexperience  in  the  precaution 
