ON ASARUM CANADENSE, 
185 
Experiment 4. — One ounce of the powdered root was 
macerated for five days in four ounces of sulphuric ether of 
60° Baume, when it was filtered and evaporated, a dark 
green oily matter was obtained. This was digested in absolute 
alcohol, which dissolved part and deprived it of the green color. 
The residue was a fatty substance, which left a greasy stain on 
paper, and possessed something of the character of wax. By 
mixing the fatty substance with caustic potassa, in solution, a 
soapy compound was generated. The alcoholic solution of 
the ethereal extract, evaporated, yielded a greenish greasy 
matter, having the taste of the plant, and which was chloro- 
phylle, resin, and fixed oil. 
Experiment 5. — Four ounces of the powdered root and 
leaves were introduced into a glass retort with one quart of 
water, to which a receiver was adapted. Heat was then ap- 
plied, until three-fourths of the water had passed over, accom- 
panied with a small quantity of volatile oil. After the remo- 
val of the oil, the water was returned into the retort on an- 
other quantity of the root, and the process continued until 
three-fourths of a pound was consumed. From this quantity 
of the dry root, one drachm of essential oil was obtained, 
which possesses the following characters: 
It has a light greenish-yellow color, a warm, pungent, 
slightly bitterish, aromatic taste, and contains all the virtues 
of the plant. Soluble in all proportions in alcohol and ether, 
very slightly soluble in water, to which it imparts, in a slight 
degree, its odor and taste. When inflamed it burns with a 
very bright flame, and does not congeal at the temperature of 
freezing. It has a specific gravity of .9452. Sulphuric acid 
converts it into a resin of a reddish-brown color. A portion 
of the plant was subjected to destructive distillation, and an 
empyreumatic oil obtained having a black color, and a bitter- 
ish, somewhat aromatic taste, and a disagreeable odor, soluble 
in alcohol and ether, and burning with a bright flame and 
much smoke. 
Experiment 6. — Incinerated 1000 grains of the root and 
leaves of wild ginger, which yielded one hundred and twenty- 
