Am.  Jour.  Phani). 
June,  1894. 
Resin  of  Podophyllum. 
279 
to  manufacture  a  product  according  to  the  Pharmacopceial  tests  ? 
Is  the  regular  modus  operandi  correct,  as  described  by  Mr.  Beringer 
on  p.  12,  of  the  January  number  of  the  "American  Journal  of  Phar- 
macy," for  the  determination  of  the  matter  soluble  in  boiling  water  ? 
Or,  must  we  abide  by  Prof.  Power's  process  ?  Personally,  I  have 
boiled  one  gram  of  the  resin,  with  about  100  cc.  water  for  five 
minutes ;  decanted  the  fluid  through  a  filter ;  evaporated  the  fil- 
trate ;  during  the  evaporation  boiled  the  undissolved  residue,  remain- 
ing in  the  flask,  with  a  fresh  quantity  of  water ;  decanted  closely, 
filtered  through  the  same  filter,  and  repeated  the  operation  once 
more,  adding  the  filtrate  to  the  since  evaporated  quantity,  the  water 
remained  nearly  colorless  at  the  third  repetition.  The  residue  of 
the  evaporation  was  dried  to  constant  weight  (ioo°  C),  as  is  usual  in 
analytical  work.  Here  might  have  crept  in  an  error  of  a  few  milli- 
grams of  soluble  matter,  but  this  can  be  overlooked  for  pharma- 
ceutical purposes.  The  influence  on  the  percentage  was,  in  my 
opinion,  not  very  great. 
The  sample  that  yielded,  under  the  comparative  testing,  the  high- 
est results  to  ether  and  to  boiling  water  (III),  has  been  submitted 
to  a  more  prolonged  boiling  process. 
One  gram  of  the  drug  has  been  boiled  five  times  with  50  cc. 
of  water ;  the  fluid  obtained  was  decanted  and  filtered  through  the 
same  filter,  and  the  residue,  6  cc,  dried  to  constant  weight  at  ioo°  C. 
Results :  thirty-two  per  cent. — far  different  from  eighty  per  cent. 
The  pharmacographical  information  at  my  command  respecting 
the  roots  used  is  meagre  and  does  not  contribute  anything  to  our 
knowledge.  The  collection  is  left  to  herb-gatherers,  and  the  roots 
are  manufactured  for  Podophyllin  as  obtained  from  them. 
The  tabulated  report  below  needs  no  further  comment : 
VI 
V 
ft 
a 
<s 
to 
Solubility 
in 
Absolute 
Ether. 
Solubility 
in 
Boiling 
Water. 
Solubility  in 
Alcohol,  90 
per  cent. 
Solution 
in  KOH 
and 
Acids. 
Color 
of 
Samples. 
Reaction 
of  Fe2Cl6 
in  Watery 
Solution 
Moisture. 
I 
II 
III 
IV 
v 
Per  Cent. 
81-4 
80-4 
88-8 
77-8 
±  80.0 
Per  Cent. 
26*4 
24-8 
28-1 
260 
237 
ed'C  ft     ft§2  8 
!?          *>    C  £  t 
0 « 9 
OJJO 
a'b| 
•C  ft  ft 
A 
i  %  u  a 
.2,3  *  JJ 
ft  to 
Q 
a 
Per  Cent. 
3-6 
*  I  have  only  a  small  sample  and  want  to  preserve  this,  the  color  being  entirely  different 
from  that  of  previous  samples.    U.  S.  P.  requirements,  15-20  per  cent. 
