332 
Ceanotlms. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1891. 
recapitulation. — ( Continued. ) 
Per  Cent. 
Mucilage  etc.,   12*90  • 
,          Glucose,   6- 00 
Aqueous  Extract :  \  MaUc  ^  ^   ^ 
|^Ash,  .  .  .   4-00 
Dilute  Soda  :  Pectin  and  albuminoids,   3-20 
1  per  cent.  Hydrochloric  acid  :  Inorganic  matter,   2-00 
Chlorine  water  :  Lignin,  etc.,   6'oo 
KCIO3  and  HNO3  :  Incrusting  matter,   4-00 
Residue :  Cellulose,  etc.,   iyoo 
Loss,   -88 
  IOO'OO 
CEANOTHUS. 
By  Frank  C.  Gerlach,  Ph.G 
Contribution  from  the  Chemical  Laboratory  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy, 
No.  89. 
The  root  bark  of  Ceanothus  americanus,  Linne,  Natural  Order 
Rhamnaceae. 
This  is  a  shrubby  plant  indigenous  to  the  greater  part  of  North 
America,  growing  in  pine  barrens  and  dry  woodlands.  It  attains  a 
height  of  about  three  feet  and  has  alternate,  ovate  or  oblong-ovate, 
serrate  leaves,  which  are  sometimes  heart-shaped  at  the  base,  downy 
underneath  and  three-veined.  The  small  white  flowers  are  in 
axillary  panicles,  and  produce  three-lobed  capsules  containing 
three  seeds.  The  root  is  a  foot  or  more  in  length,  nearly  cylindrical 
and  from  one-half  to  one  inch  in  thickness,  with  a  knotty  head  and 
a  few  branches,  and  covered  with  a  firmly  adhering  rust-colored 
bark,  which  is  about  one-twelfth  inch  thick,  with  some  longitudinal 
ridges.  This  bark  is  hard,  breaks  with  a  short  granular  fracture, 
and  when  cut  with  a  knife  has  a  brown-red  and  waxy  appearance. 
The  wood  is  very  tough,  of  a  light  red-brown  color  and  of  a  waxy 
lustre  upon  the  recently  cut  surface.  The  root-branches  have  a 
light  colored  bark  and  a  whitish  wood.  The  root  is  without  odor, 
and  has  a  bitter  astringent  taste,  which  is  strongest  in  the  bark. 
The  leaves  of  this  plant  were  used  during  the  Revolutionary  War 
as  a  substitute  for  tea,  and  in  the  late  Civil  War  it  was  employed  in 
the  same  manner  and  pronounced  a  good  substitute  for  indifferent 
tea. 
The  root  is  astringent  and  was  applied  locally  by  the  Cherokee 
