Ana.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1891. 
Heuchera  Americana. 
173 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Falls  of  Schuylkill,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  A 
'  collection  of  the  root  was  made  in  the  early  part  of  July,  1889,  and 
subjected  to  proximate  analysis  in  December  of  the  same  year. 
The  following  constituents  were  found  : 
Per  cent,  amount. 
Fat,  wax  and  caoutchouc,  .   '65 
Gallic  acid  (trace)  and  resin,   -56 
Tannin  (5*55  per  cent.),  glucose  (3  per  cent.)  and  phloba- 
phene  (?),   .  2072 
Glucose  (6'09  per  cent.),  saccharose  (3*17  per  cent.),  mucilage 
and  tannin  ('26  per  cent.),   9-84 
Albuminoids  (i"5  per  cent)  and  extractive  soluble  in  dilute 
alkalies,  .  .  ,   3*50 
Calcium  oxalate  (1.2  per  cent.)  and  extractive  soluble  in  dil. 
hydrochloric  acid,   4*85 
Starch,   4-67 
Moisture,   .  808 
Ash,   6*14 
Cellulose,  lignin  and  loss,   40*99 
Total,  .  .  100*00 
The  absolute  alcohol  extract  was  completely  soluble  in  hot  water, 
but  the  aqueous  solution  so  obtained  almost  immediately  deposited 
a  heavy  red-brown  precipitate,  which  amounted  to  over  one-half  the 
total  extract.  The  solution  in  water  was  red  before  and  after  this 
deposition.  The  corresponding  extract  of  root  collected  in 
October  was  reddish-yellow,  soluble  in  cold  water,  giving  a  solution 
of  the  same  color,  and  was  permanent  for  a  reasonable  time.  The 
tannin  was  determined  in  the  clear  supernatant  liquid  ;  the  color 
was  carried  down  in  the  precipitate  of  the  gelatin  compound. 
This  tannin  gave  with  ferroso-ferric  salts  a  dark  blue  precipitate. 
No  phlobaphene  was  found  in  the  alkaline  (NaOH)  extract.  Starch 
was  determined  in  a  separate  portion  of  the  material. 
Tannin. — To  ascertain  the  amount  of  this  constituent,  several 
collections  of  the  drug  were  made  at  different  seasons  of  the  year, 
and  the  estimations  made  while  the  material  was  fresh,  that  is,  on 
the  day  following  the  collection.  The  method  of  procedure  was  to 
make  a  decoction  of  the  drug,  to  precipitate  the  tannin  in  this  with 
gelatin  in  the  presence  of  alum,  to  dry  and  weigh  this  precipitate 
after  washing  it  with  boiling  water  to  remove  alum,  and  to  take  54 
per  cent,  of  this  as  the  equivalent  of  this  tannin  in  gallotannic  acid. 
The  average  of  three  closely  agreeing  results  was  used.    All  the 
