226 
Helenium  Autumndle. 
{Am.  Jour.  Phar . 
May  1, 1874. 
The  slight  yellowish-white  precipitate,  obtained  by  treating  the  fil- 
trate resulting  from  the  precipitation  of  the  decoction  by  Pb2C2H302y. 
and  filtering,  was  suspended  in  alcohol  and  treated  with  H2S  and  fil- 
tered ;  after  removing  the  excess  of  H2S  and  evaporating,  no  residue 
was  left.  The  original  precipitate  apparently  consisted  of  gum  in 
combination  with  lead,  and  which  evidently  did  not  pre-exist  in  the 
plant  as  gum,  but  as  inulin,  which,  by  boiling,  was  converted  into  gum. 
A  larger  quantity  of  the  herb  was  subjected  to  distillation  with 
water,  and  yielded  a  perfectly  clear  and  transparent  distillate,  neutral 
to  test  paper,  tasteless,  and  possessing  but  a  very  faint  odor,  thereby 
proving  the  absence  of  volatile  acids  and  bases,  and  the  presence  of 
a  very  minute  quantity  of  volatile  oil. 
The  decoction  remaining  in  the  still  was  of  a  dark-brown  color, 
having  a  very  bitter  taste  and  an  acid  reaction.  It  was  evaporated 
to  a  solid  extract,  over  a  water  bath,  and  treated  with  alcohol,  which 
took  up  the  whole  of  the  bitter  principle,  leaving  a  brown  extract-like 
mass,  consisting  of  gum,  fat,  coloring  matter,  &c. 
The  alcoholic  solution  was  evaporated  to  a  solid  extract,  over  a  water 
bath,  and  a  portion  treated,  in  several  small  portions,  with  NH4HO, 
KHO,  Na2C03  and  KHC03,  with  a  view  of  obtaining  a  crystallizable 
salt,  but  without  success. 
The  remainder  of  the  extract  was  boiled  with  diluted  HgSO^  (one 
part  of  acid  to  ten  parts  of  water)  for  fifteen  minutes,  the  acid  solu- 
tion neutralized  with  BaC03,  the  BaS04  removed,  and  the  clear  liquid! 
tested  for  glucose  by  Trommer's  test,  which  produced  the  characteris- 
tic precipitate  of  Cu20.  The  portion  left  behind  by  the  diluted  acid' 
was  of  a  liver-brown  color,  pulverizable,  yielding  a  light-brown  pow- 
der, of  an  exceedingly  bitter  taste,  producing  violent  irritation  and 
sneezing  when  drawn  up  into  the  nostrils. 
It  is  supposed  by  some  that  the  plant  possesses  poisonous  properties. 
Whether  or  not  the  bitter,  amorphous  substance  which  I  obtained 
from  the  plant  possesses  such  properties  I  did  not  undertake  to  deter- 
mine. 
From  the  results  of  the  above  experiments,  it  seems  that  the  bitter 
principle  is  a  glucoside,  soluble  in  ether,  alcohol  and  water,  freely  in 
the  first  two  menstrua,  and  boiling  water  dissolving  it  more  readily 
than  cold  water ;  and  by  application  of  diluted  H2S04,  with  heat, 
splitting  up  into  glucose  and  an  uncrystallizable,  bitter  amorphous 
substance,  having  an  acid  reaction.    The  herb  contains  also  some 
