CAULOPHYLLUM  THALTCTROIDES,  (BLUE  COHOSH.)  207 
ing  the  root,  soluble  in  alcohol  and  water ;  when  shaken  with  the 
latter  it  produced  a  very  thick  and  persistent  froth.  This  led  me 
to  investigate  it  with  reference  to  the  presence  of  a  body  analo- 
gous to  saponin.  I  dissolved  this  extractive  body  in  diluted  al- 
cohol, and  passed  it  through  animal  charcoal ;  thi3  liquid,  when 
agitated  with  ether,  let  fall  a  fawn-colored  precipitate.  The  liquid 
was  decanted,  the  precipitate  was  washed  and  dried,  yielding, 
when  powdered,  a  grayish  white  inodorous  body,  very  irritant  to 
the  nostrils,  producing  sneezing.  The  taste  is  sweetish  acrid 
bitter,  leaving  a  tingling  sensation  in  the  mouth  and  fauces.  It 
is  entirely  dissipated  on  the  application  of  red  heat. 
This  substance  is  freely  soluble  in  diluted  and  strong  alcohol, 
also  freely  soluble  in  hot  water,  with  which  it  produces  a  very 
thick  froth  on  agitation.  Its  aqueous  solution  reddens  litmus  pa- 
per. It  is  soluble  in  alkaline  solutions,  as  of  ammonia,  potassa 
and  soda.  It  is  precipitated  from  its  watery  solution  both  by  neu- 
tral and  subacetate  of  lead ;  by  the  former  a  light,  and  by  the 
latter  a  dense  floccuient  precipitate  ;  with  a  solution  of  binitrate 
of  mercury,  and  also,  with  a  solution  of  terchloride  of  gold  a 
slight  precipitate.  When  heated  with  sulphuric  acid  it  first  as- 
sumes a  rose,  then  a  purple,  and  finally  a  violet  color.  On  heat- 
ing with  nitric  acid,  it  assumes  a  straw-yellow  color,  and  on  the 
addition  of  water,  a  floccuient  matter  separates  and  rises  to  the 
top.  When  heated  with  hydrochloric  acid  it  is  not  altered  in 
color,  simply  depositing  a  floccuient  precipitate,  which,  when  ad- 
ded to  boiling  water,  is  but  partially  soluble,  this  again  being  de- 
posited on  cooling.  From  these  experiments  it  appears  that  this 
root  contains  a  substance  similar  to  Saponin. 
While  making  the  above  series  of  experiments,  my  attention 
was  called  to  a  paper  by  Prof.  Ferdinand  F.  Mayer,  published  in 
the  March  number  of  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  1863, 
wherein  he  says,  "  that  if  the  alcoholic  tincture  of  this  rhizoma 
was  left  to  spontaneous  evaporation,  a  deposit  of  a  white  granu- 
lar substance  was  obtained.  This  deposit,  when  washed  with  di- 
luted acid,  dissolved  a  colorless  alkaloid  and  soluble  extractive, 
and  then  with  some  water  remains  as  a  grayish  white  powder, 
which,  for  the  greater  part  consists  of  Saponin.1'' 
I  do  not  assume  to  contradict  Prof.  Mayer,  although,  white 
