ON ARUM TRIPHYLLUM. 
S3 
the sliced root was introduced, after which the tube was 
bent at an obtuse angle near the middle, and the other end 
hermetically sealed. The empty end of the tube was placed 
in a freezing mixture, and the other, containing the sliced 
root, heated gradually and regularly until all the moisture 
of the root had passed over to the refrigerated end of the 
tube. The whole was then permitted to acquire the tem- 
perature of the atmosphere, and the tube divided. The dis- 
tilled fluid was found to possess the peculiar odor of the 
root, but none of its acrimony. The gaseous contents of 
the tube, when inhaled, caused no irritation, and was not 
inflammable. The root had been entirely deprived of its 
acrid burning taste. 
It will be seen that the results of the above experiments 
do not accord with those of Dr. Bigelow, as the gaseous 
matter contained but a trace of carbonic acid, and was neither 
inflammable nor explosive. 
Whether it is a product of the decomposition of the 
active principle, or whether it is atmospheric air absorbed 
by the root, and subsequently given out, has not been de- 
termined. 
Liebig* states, at the end of his chapter on volatile oils 
containing sulphur, that "the volatile oil of the Arum ma- 
culatum belongs to this class;" and the same statement is 
made by Professor Graham; but I have been unable to find 
an account of this product, as no mention or reference is 
given by either of these authors: it must, however, be evU 
dent, that if such an oil exists in the Arum triphyllum, it 
should have been obtained in the tube experiment. 
Quantitive examination of the principal ingredients of 
the root of Arum triphyllum. 
Fecula. — One thousand grains of the root, previously 
washed, was rasped finely, agitated with water for some 
Organic Chemistry in Turner. 
