THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
JANUARY,  i893. 
THE  COLORING  PRINCIPLE  OF  POKE  BERRIES. 
By  Herman  Harms. 
Contribution  from  the  Chemical  Laboratory  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy.  - 
No.  1 1 8. 
Read  before  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  Dec.  20. 
In  order  to  determine  the  constituents  and  more  particularly  the 
coloring  principle  of  this  fruit,  32  grams  of  the  berries,  dried  at  ioo° 
C,  were  subjected  to  usual  plant  solvents  with  the  following  result  : 
Percentage 
Petroleum  ether,  i  .......  '   .012 
Stronger  ether,   '027 
Absolute  alcohol,  '   '024 
Distilled  water  : 
Mucilage,  274 
Dextrin,  :  '  3*52 
Glucose,  8*09 
Saccharose,    .  .  •  1*46 
Carbohydrate,  1-13 
.   16-94 
Sodium  hydrate  solution  : 
Pectin  and  albuminoids,   1-47 
Dilute  hydrochloric  acid  : 
Pararabin,  •   128 
Residue  (chiefly  seeds),  •   76-32 
Ash,   -95 
Loss,   2-977 
IOO  "OOO 
The  ripe  fruit,  dried  at  iio°  C,  was  found  to  contain  71-26  per 
cent,  moisture,  and  on  ignition  left  a  greenish  ash,  containing  com- 
pounds of  K,  Na,  Ca,  Mg  and  Mn,  as  well  as  phosphates.  Petro- 
ls 
