AmA"p°riir'  i9i8rm' }      Method  of  Cleaning  Digitalis.  251 
more  pronounced  in  the  second  table  which  shows  that  71  per  cent, 
of  the  fine  powder  ash  was  insoluble  in  HQ.  The  tables  illustrate 
that  there  is  a  direct  relation  between  the  percentage  of  HQ  insolu- 
ble ash  and  the  amount  of  inorganic  foreign  matter  in  the  drug. 
Quantitative  Ash  Determinations. — The  following  table 
shows  the  amount  of  elements  present  in  the  ash,  calculated  as 
oxides,  and  the  alkalinity  representing  chiefly  carbonates.  It  will  be 
noted  that  the  high  percentage  of  ash  caused  by  foreign  matter  was 
due  chiefly  to  silica  with  some  aluminum.  The  high  percentage  of 
alkalinity  in  the  ash  of  the  clean  drug  as  compared  to  that  of  the 
siftings  would  indicate  the  combination  of  iron,  calcium,  magne- 
sium, potassium  and  sodium  with  organic  acids  in  the  normal  leaf, 
and  the  relatively  small  amount  of  these  salts  in  the  ash  of  the  sift- 
ings. The  small  amount  of  these  salts  in  the  ash  of  the  siftings, 
the  low  alkalinity  together  with  the  dual  capacity  in  which  some  of 
these  elements  occur  make  it  difficult  if  not  impossible  to  correctly 
proportionate  the  constituents. 
Table  VII. 
Quantitative  Table  of  Inorganic  Constituents  of  Digitalis. 
Ash  of 
Deter- 
mina- 
tion. 
Total 
Sili- 
ceous 
Mate- 
rial. 
Si  as 
Si02. 
Iron  as 
Fe203. 
Al  as 
A1203.' 
Ca  as 
CaO. 
Mg  as 
MgO. 
Kand 
Na  as 
K20- 
NazO. 
MilsN/10 
H2S04 
per  Gm. 
Ash  M.  O. 
Ind* 
Digitalis  cleaned 
A 
II.S8 
IO.84 
9-59 
3.62 
20.10 
23-93 
3l.l8f 
42.56 
B 
n-53 
IO.67 
9-52 
3-5i 
20.03 
23-53 
3i-88t 
42.59 
Av. 
n-55 
IO.76 
9-55 
3.56 
20.06 
23-73 
31-53 
42.575 
Fine  powder  from 
siftings  
A 
73-18 
44-75 
5-04 
3-33 
9-45 
9-77 
8.08 
B 
73-41 
45-i6 
5-32 
3-46 
9.21 
9-15 
8.12 
Av. 
73-29 
44.96 
5-i8 
3-39 
9-33 
9.46 
8.10 
Summary. — Foreign  inorganic  material  adhering  to  dry  digitalis 
leaves  may  be  easily  separated  by  a  mechanical  process. 
By  the  application  of  such  process  supplies  of  digitalis  may  be 
made  much  more  uniform  with  respect  to  adhering  material. 
The  evident  variation  in  the  chemical  nature  of  foreign  material 
*  Methyl  orange  used  as  indicator, 
t  By  difference. 
