Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Jan.,  1893. 
Podophyllum  Enwdi. 
27 
Podophyllic  acid  was  precipitated  from  the  chloroformic  solution  by 
ether  (as  mentioned  already  under  the  heading  of  podophyllotoxin) 
in  quantity  equivalent  to  30  8  per  cent.  It  was  thrown  out  in  white 
flocks  which  rapidly  aggregated  forming  a  brown  resinous  mass, 
but  which  after  drying  was  easily  reduced  to  a  pale  grayish  powder. 
It  was  distinctly  acid  to  litmus  and  melted  at  about  1250  C.  It  was 
soluble  in  chloroform  and  alcohol,  but  insoluble  in  ether  and  water. 
It  possessed  when  free  from  picropodophyllin  no  cathartic  action 
whatever,  and  hence  the  description  of  this  ether  precipitate  by 
Thompson  as  podophyllotoxin,  the  name  applied  by  Podwissotzki  to 
the  active  ingredient  of  the  resin,  has  led  to  misconception.  It 
was  found  necessary  to  remove  the  precipitate  of  podophyllic.  acid 
at  once  from  the  ether  and  chloroform  solution,  as  its  precipitation 
causes  the  crystallization  of  a  part  of  the  picropodophyllin,  and  may 
lead  to  a  considerable  loss  of  that  body. 
Podophylloquercetin. — The  crude  resin  after  extraction  with  petro- 
leum ether  and  dry  alcohol-free  chloroform  was  dried  and  extracted 
with  ether,  the  ethereal  solution  concentrated  and  precipitated  as  a 
bright  orange  powder  by  alcoholic  solution  of  lead  acetate.  The 
lead  compound  was  decomposed  by  sulphuretted  hydrogen  and  the 
liberated  podophylloquercetin  shaken  out  with  ether.  It  was  crys- 
tallized by  the  addition  of  benzole  to  the  ethereal  solution,  and  was 
purified  by  sublimation.  The  crystals,  which  became  green  on 
exposure  to  air  melted  at  2480  C,  with  slight  decomposition. 
The  amount  obtained  was  equivalent  to  135  per  cent,  of  the  resin. 
Fatly  Matter. — Petroleum  ether  removed  from  the  crude  resin  2-3 
per  cent,  of  a  greenish  fat,  which  differed  from  that  obtained  from 
the  resin  of  P.  peltatum  in  being  non-crystalline  and  semi-fluid, 
whilst  that  from  the  latter  exists  in  larger  quantity,  and  is  distinctly 
crystalline  in  character. 
Podwissotzki,  in  his  examination  of  the  resin  of  P.  peltatum, 
makes  no  mention  of  the  proportions  of  the  various  bodies  separated 
therefrom,  and  on  this  account  experiments  under  similar  conditions 
have  been  made  upon  a  sample  of  the  resin  from  the  rhizome  of  this 
species  to  determine  its  relative  composition. 
P.  Kmodi. 
P.  peltatum. 
Resiii  by  official  process  for  podophyllin 
resiu,  
Constituents  of  the  resin — 
Podophyllotoxin  (crude),'  
17-8 
1 1 '4  p.c. 
33-8 
5*9  Pc- 
