THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
AUGUST,  1893. 
NARCISSUS  ORIENTALlS;*=t4i4^^=^ 
By  Louis  Robechek,  Ph.G. 
Contribution  from  the  Chemical  Laboratory  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy. 
No.  126. 
Natural  order  Amaryllidaceae.    Habitat,  Eastern  Asia. 
This  winter  blooming  plant,  popularly  known  as  the  "  Chinese 
Lily  "  or  "  Flower  of  the  Gods,"  has  apparently  been  introduced  by 
the  Chinese,  and  is  much  sought  after  as  a  house  plant  from 
November  to  March. 
It  flourishes  best  when  planted  in  a  dish  of  pebbles  with  water 
just  reaching  the  roots.  Under  these  conditions  it  will  bloom  in 
about  twenty-five  days.  If  planted  in  half  sand  and  half  pebbles  it 
is  said  to  require  about  ten  days  longer.  The  only  advantage 
derived  from  this  latter  method  is  that  the  seeds  will  then  mature. 
A  few  years  ago  these  bulbs  could  only  be  obtained  in  Chinese 
stores,  at  a  somewhat  extravagant  price,  varying  from  fifty  cents  to 
one  dollar  each.  Now  they  can  be  had  of  every  seedsman  at  less 
than  that  price  per  dozen,  or  at  from  five  to  ten  cents  each. 
A  partial  examination  of  the  moist  drug  gave  52  per  cent,  of 
moisture,  3  per  cent,  of  ash,  9-5  per  cent,  of  mucilage,  3  per  cent, 
of  sugar  and  small  quantities  of  resin,  pectin,  alkaloid  and  gluco- 
side.  There  remained  about  7  per  cent,  of  lignin  and  166  per 
cent,  of  cellulose. 
The  glucoside  was  separated  from  the  bulb  by  extracting  with 
alcohol,  recovering  the  latter  by  distillation,  dissolving  the  residue 
in  acidulated  water,  and  agitating  the  filtered  solution  with  a  mixture 
of  ether  and  chloroform.    On  evaporation  of  this  mixture,  the 
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