AmFJe°bT'x8P7h8arm'}     Notes  on  a  few  American  Drugs.  53 
The  bitter  principle  called  viburnin  was  isolated  by  Kramer  from 
the  etherial  extract  of  the  bark  by  treating  it  with  hot  water,  removing 
the  tannin  from  the  solution  by  means  of  hide  (parchment),  and  decolor- 
izing afterwards  with  animal  charcoal ;  the  colorless  liquid  left  on  evap- 
oration a  light-yellowish  mass,  which  yielded  a  nearly  white  powder,  of 
neutral  reaction  and  purely  bitter  taste  ;  it  was  slightly  soluble  in  water 
more  freely  in  alcohol,  and  on  incineration  left  a  little  ash. 
Enz  found  in  the  fruit  of  the  species  mentioned  an  acrid  and  a  neu- 
tral bitter  principle,  the  latter  being  yellow,  hygroscopic,  readily  sol- 
uble in  water,  and  uncrystallizable,  even  after  dialyzing  it ;  the  fruit 
was  boiled  with  lime  and  water,  the  filtrate  neutralized  with  muriatic 
acid  and  treated  with  animal  charcoal  \  the  latter  was  washed,  dried 
and  exhausted  with  alcohol,  the  solution  evaporated  to  a  syrupy  con- 
sistence, deprived  of  the  acrid  principle  by  ether,  and  then  evaporated. 
Leo's  experiments  (1834)  for  determining  the  nature  of  the  coloring 
matter  of  the  fruit  of  Vib.  opulus,  did  not  yield  any  important  results. 
The  remaining  constituents  were  those  very  generally  distributed 
throughout  the  vegetable  kingdom,  such  as  pectin,  resin,  fat,  gum,  etc. 
It  would  be  of  interest  to  ascertain  the  nature  of  the  bitter  principles 
contained  in  the  two  first-named  species,  both  of  which  are  indigenous 
to  this  country  and  called  black  haw. 
NOTES  ON  A  FEW  AMERICAN  DRUGS. 
By  John  M.  Maisch. 
{Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  January  15.) 
Pterocaulon  pycnostachyum,  Ell—  An  imperfect  specimen  of 
the  subterraneous  portion  of  this  plant  was  received  from  'Georgia, 
where  it  is  known  as  Blackroot,  and  enjoys  some  local  reputation  as  a 
valuable  alterative.  The  plant  belongs  to  the  nat.  ord.  Compositae,  has 
a  nearly  simple  stem,  with  decurrent  lanceolate  wavy-margined  leaves, 
which  are  smooth  above  and  densely  tomentose  beneath.  The  inflor- 
escence is  spicate,  the  imbricated  involucral  scales  are  diciduous,  the 
ray  florets  are  white  and  the  akenes  are  crowded  with  a  long  hairy 
pappus.  The -plant  grows  in  the  damp  pine  barrens  of  our  Southern 
States,  from  North  Carolina  to  Florida. 
The  portion  used  is  the  rhizome,  which  is  horizontal  or  oblique  in 
the  ground,  and  when  viewed  from  above  has  a  compact  but  knotty 
