Aljanu?rry  Pi9?8m'  )       Podophyllum  peltatum  Linne. 
1 1 
ture  present.  The  results  of  moisture  determination  on  the  dry 
powdered  drug  are  given  in  Table  III. 
Ash. — The  ash  was  determined  as  outlined  in- Bureau  of  Chem- 
istry Bulletin  No.  107  (Revised),3  both  soluble  and  insoluble  ash 
being  determined  in  the  oven-dried  material.  The  results  are  also 
given  in  Table  III. 
Table  III. 
Percentage  of  Moisture  and  Ash  Present  in  Air-dried  Podophyllum  peltatum. 
Material. 
Lot  number. 
Moisture, 
per  cent. 
Soluble. 
Ash  per  cent. 
Insoluble. 
Total. 
Rhizome  
I 
8.66 
O.566 
3.762 
4-328 
2 
8.82 
O.650 
3-770 
4.420 
3 
10.06 
O.764 
3-ooi 
3-765 
4 
9.12 
0-579 
3-531 
4. no 
5 
9.27 
O.887 
3-884 
4.771 
6 
8.6l 
O.969 
3-948 
4.917 
Roots  
la 
8.91 
O.843 
5-656 
6.499 
2a 
9-34 
0-959 
5-858 
6.817 
3a 
9.88 
O.604 
4-369 
4-973 
4a 
9-74 
0-977 
4.446 
5-423 
Sa 
9-55 
I.084 
4-451 
5-535 
6a  . 
8.88 
1.202 
4.068 
5.290 
The  amount  of  moisture  remaining  in  air-dried  podophyllum 
varies  with  the  time  of  collection.  Spring  and  fall-collected  samples 
contain  practically  the  same  amounts  of  moisture  while  samples  col- 
lected at  intermediate  periods  vary  to  a  considerable  degree.  Sam- 
ples 3  and  3a,  collected  when  the  plant  was  at  the  height  of  its  grow- 
ing period,  contain  the  greatest  amount  of  moisture,  both  in  the 
fresh  and  in  the  air-dried  drug. 
A  comparison  of  the  ash  content  of  both  the  roots  and  rhizome 
is  of  special  interest.  The  Pharmacopoeia,  IX,  states  that  "  Podo- 
phyllum yields  not  more  than  3  per  cent,  of  ash."  None  of  the 
samples  examined  yield  as  low  as  3  per  cent,  of  ash.  All  of  the 
samples  of  rhizome  yield  over  4  per  cent,  of  ash,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  sample  No.  3,  which  yields  3.765  per  cent.  Several  checks 
run  on  each  sample  yielded  like  results.  The  ash  of  the  roots  was 
found  to  be  considerably  greater  than  that  of  the  rhizome,  in  some 
samples  running  to  over  twice  the  amount  specified  in  the  Pharma- 
copoeia.  The  latest  Pharmacopoeia  allows  the  roots  to  enter  as  part 
3  Official  and  Provisional  Methods  of  Analysis.  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  Bureau  of  Chemistry  Bulletin  No.  107  (Revised),  238. 
