228 
Resina  Podophylli. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
|     May  1,  1874. 
treatment  with  ether,  was  divided  into  two  portions,  soluble  and 
insoluble,  therein  maintaining  about  the  same  degree  of  solubility  as 
the  precipitated  resin.  The  exact  amount  of  this  substance  was  not 
ascertained,  but  must  be  at  least  ten  per  cent,  of  that  originally  ob- 
tained by  precipitation.  The  portion  of  alcoholic  resin  insoluble  in 
ether  thus  separated  by  the  concentration  of  the  mother  liquor,  was 
taken  in  doses  of  five  grains,  producing  only  a  slight  cathartic  action, 
attended  by  no  unpleasant  effects,  while  the  ethereal  resin  taken  in 
tb e  same  amount  proved  to  be  an  active  emeto-cathartic,  very  violent 
in  its  action,  producing  vomiting  and  purging,  attended  with  severe 
griping,  sense  of  dryness  in  the  throat  and  dilation  of  the  pupils,  the 
effects  lasting  for  about  twenty-four  hours  ;  the  latter  effect  I  have 
never  seen  recorded,  and  may  possibly  only  be  produced  by  an  exces- 
sive dose  ;  but  it  was  plainly  marked  in  this  instance,  affording  con- 
clusive evidence  that  the  substance  thus  separated  is  identical  with  the 
precipitated  resin,  at  the  same  time  establishing  the  fact  that  the  so- 
called  resin  of  podophyllum  is  not  a  true  resin,  which  term,  as  applied 
by  the  older  chemists  in  its  widest  sense,  distinguishes  those  substances 
insoluble  in  water,  generally  soluble  in  alcohol,  for  the  most  part  un- 
crystallizable,  and  melting  when  warmed  ;  it  might  with  some  degree 
of  propriety  be  called  a  resinoid,  from  its  resemblance  to  a  resin,  but 
this  in  turn  is  so  vague  in  its  meaning,  that  the  nomenclature  adopted 
by  our  Pharmacopoeia  may  be  more  conveniently  used  until  its  true 
composition  is  more  definitely  determined. 
The  concentrated  mother  liquor  when  filtered  was  of  a  yellowish 
red  color,  possessing  a  slight  bitter  taste  and  strong  acid  reaction  ;  no 
precipitate  was  produced  by  iodohydrargyrate  of  potassium,  tannic 
acid,  mercuric  chloride  or  tincture  of  iodine,  indicating  the  absence  of 
any  organic  alkali  ;  the  statement  of  berberina  having  been  separated 
from  this  liquid  must  have  been  applied  with  reference  to  the  former 
officinal  resin,  precipitated  without  the  agency  of  hydrochloric  acid, 
as  in  the  present  process  it  was  found  to  have  been  entirely  pre- 
cipitated. 
The  liquid,  however,  when  quite  dilute,  frothed  strongly  upon 
agitation ;  the  color  was  rendered  much  brighter  upon  the  addition  of 
alkalies,  Ferric  chloride  colored  it  olive  green,  baryta  water  pro- 
duced a  dense  precipitate,  but  it  was  not  precipitated  by  a  solution  of 
gelatin  ;  when  mixed  with  anhydrous  alcohol,  a  perfect  solution  was 
formed,  which  however  did  not  froth  ;  added  to  an  alkaline  solution 
