Am.  Jour.  Pharni.  ) 
April,  1884.  J 
Pipitzahoic  Acid  or  Vegetable  Gold. 
193 
PIPITZAHOIC  ACID  OR  VEGETABLE  GOLD. 
By  Thomas  Greenish,  F.C.S. 
The  author  refers  to  the  root  and  the  acid  exhibited  by  Mr.  Vigener, 
of  Bieberich,  at  the  meeting  of  the  German  Apotheker  Verein,  in 
1883;  among  the  specimens  of  acid  was  one  in  fine  flakes,  the  result 
of  sublimation,  and  of  a  brilliant  golden  yellow  color,  hence  the  name 
"vegetable  gold"  applied  to  this  product.  The  drug  was  first  noticed 
in  Europe  in  1855,  when  Dr.  SchafFner,  a  young  German  pharmacist, 
obtained  of  Dr.  Leopold  Rio  de  la  Loza,  Professor  of  Chemistry  and 
Pharmacy  in  Mexico,  a  sample  of  the  acid,  which  was  subsequently 
analyzed  by  M.  C.  Weld  ("Annal.  Chem.  Pharm.,"  xcv,  188).1  In 
his  report  on  the  chemical  and  pharmaceutical  products  in  the  Phila- 
delphia Exhibition,  Mr.  J.  R.  Jackson  mentions  pipitzahoic  acid  and 
pipitzahuina  and  briefly  describes  the  former.2 
The  author  then  gives  the  following  description  of  specimens  pre- 
sented by  Mr.  Vigener : 
The  roots,  as  furnished  me,  were  in  pieces  from  8  to  10  cm.  long  and 
2  mm.  thick,  externally  of  a  brown  or  reddish  brown  color,  more  or 
less  furrowed  longitudinally  on  the  surface,  apparently  through  the 
shrinking  of  the  root  in  the  process  of  drying;  its  taste  was  decidedly 
bitter,  leaving  a  pungency  on  the  tongue  which  remained  after  the 
bitterness  had  passed  off,  and  this  pungency  was  somewhat  persistent. 
In  a  transverse  section  of  the  root  the  yellow  spots  of  pipitzahoic 
acid  were  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  more  distinctly  seen  in  their 
relation  to  the  other  parts  when  the  section  was  slightly  magnified 
with  a  lens.  The  outer  cortical  layer  consists  of  a  double  row  of 
thickened  tabular  cells,  tangentially  disposed  and  deeply  colored ;  this 
is  followed  by  a  layer,  several  cells  deep,  of  collenchymatous  tissue 
passing  inward  to  the  fundamental  parenchyma  of  the  root.  The 
1  A  notice  of  the  drug  is  also  contained  in  "Compt.  Rend,"  xlii,  873, 1072. 
Ramon  de  laSagra  refers  the  root  to  Dumerilia  (Perezia,  Gray)  Humboldtii, 
Lessing,  and  describes  the  product  as  riolozinic  acid. — Editor  Amer.  Jour. 
Phar. 
2  The  Mexican  Catalogue  of  the  Exhibition  of  1876  gives  the  following- 
information  : 
Trixis  Pipitzahoac,  Schaffner,  "Pipitzahoac."  In  the  valley  of  Mexico 
and  in  the  western  mountains.  The  rhizomes  and  roots  contain  a  resinous 
substance,  which  Mr.  L.  Rio  de  la  Loza  has  called  pipitzoic  acid.  It  is 
used  as  a  drastic  in  a  dose  of  from  4  to  8  grains.— Editor  Am.  Jour.  j>jj A  1{ 
13 
