Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Dec,  1877.  J 
Garry  a  Fremont  i. 
585 
ON  GARRYA  FREMONTI. 
By  David  William  Ross,  Ph.G. 
[From  an  Inaugural  Essay.) 
Having  obtained  from  Prof.  Maisch  a  small  quantity  of  the  branches 
and  root  of  the  above  plant,  which  was  mentioned  in  the  "Amer.  Jour. 
Phar.,"  1875,  p.  279,  and  1876,  p.  234,  I  endeavored  to  procure  a  larger 
supply  from  California,  but  without  success;  my  experiments  were  there- 
fore not  as  satisfactory  as  I  could  have  wished,  but  I  have  nevertheless 
succeeded  in  isolating  a  bitter  principle,  which,  from  the  tests,  seems  to 
be  an  alkaloid,  for  which  I  propose  the  name  of  Garryina.  It  was  obtained 
by  the  following  process :  Two  troyounces  of  the  dried  leaves  were 
exhausted  with  alcohol,  and  about  two  pints  of  a  dark-green  tincture 
obtained.  It  was  concentrated  to  about  two  fluidounces,  an  equal 
bulk  of  water  was  added,  which  precipitated  the  resinous  matter.  The 
filtrate  had  a  dark-brown  color,  a  very  bitter  taste  and  an  acid  reaction 
to  litmus  paper.  The  precipitated  resin,  when  washed  with  water 
until  tasteless,  was  of  a  light  yellow  color.  Part  of  the  filtrate  was 
acidulated  with  muriatic  acid  and  iodo-hydrargyrate  of  potassium  added, 
which  gave  a  white  precipitate.  Ammonia  water  added  in  excess 
changed  the  color  to  a  dark  greenish-yellow.  Petroleum  benzin  or 
ether,  agitated  with  the  solution,  did  not  extract  any  of  the  bitterness. 
Chloroform  was  agitated  with  the  ammoniacal  solution  in  six  separate 
portions,  being  allowed  to  remain  in  contact  each  time  for  twenty-four 
hours,  with  frequent  agitation,  then  separated  and  evaporated  spon- 
taneously ;  a  light-brown  very  bitter  substance  was  left,  having  an 
alkaline  reaction,  and  being  soluble  in  alcohol,  slightly  in  water.  It 
was  dissolved  in  water  acidulated  with  muriatic  acid,  digested  with 
animal  charcoal,  and  filtered.  The  filtrate  was  very  bitter  ;  after  being 
evaporated  over  a  water  bath  and  set  aside  for  a  few  days,  a  few  cubical 
crystals  were  obtained,  which  had  a  bitter  taste,  were  soluble  in  alcohol 
and  water,  and  gave  the  following  reactions  :  With  sulphuric  acid  after 
a  few  minutes  a  purple  color  ;  with  chromate  of  potassium  and  sul- 
phuric acid  first  a  red,  then  a  yellow  and  lastly  a  green  color.  Its 
aqueous  solution  was  precipitated  by  iodo-hydrargyrate  of  potassium. 
Besides  the  garryina,  the  leaves  contain  resin,  chlorophyll,  tannin 
and  sugar.  They  yielded  five  per  cent,  of  ash,  containing  salts  ot 
potassium,  calcium,  iron  and  magnesium.  The  root  contains  the  same 
alkaloid,  answering  to  the  same  tests,  and  obtainable  by  the  same  pro- 
