Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Aug.,  1891. 
Polygonatum  Bifloriun. 
385 
with  a  characteristic  odor  and  taste,  and  soluble  in  chloroform,  ether, 
alcohol  and  water.  When  acidified,  its  aqueous  solution  produced 
a  yellow  precipitate  with  Mayer's  reagent,  a  dark  yellow  with  potas- 
sium tri-iodide,  a  reddish  with  tannin  and  a  reduction  with  auric 
chloride. 
In  addition  to  the  usual  plant  constituents  mayweed  contains 
small  quantities  of  a  bitter  principle,  valerianic  acid  and  a  volatile 
alkaloid.  The  small  amount  of  bitter  principle  possessed  the  prop- 
erties of  a  glucoside. 
POLYGONATUM  BIFLORUM. 
By  Benjamin  H.  Gorrell,  Jr.,  Ph.G. 
Contribution  from  the  Chemical  Laboratory  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy. — 
No.  92. 
This  plant  flourishes  abundantly  in  North  America  from  New 
Brunswick  to  Florida  and  west  to  Minnesota,  Eastern  Kansas  and 
Texas,  being  most  abundant  on  wooded  hillsides,  and  where  the 
soil  is  not  too  dry  or  sandy. 
The  drug  consisting  of  the  underground  portion  comes  in  the 
market  in  pieces  ^  to  i  inch  in  diameter  and  2  to  6  inches  in  length. 
The  larger  pieces  are  sliced.  The  color  is  pale  yellow,  odor  pecu- 
liar and  reminding  one  of  squill.  The  fracture  is  rather  short  and 
horny  showing  internally  a  white  color.  The  taste  is  mucilaginous, 
sweetish  and  afterward  faintly  bitter. 
Fifty  grams  were  dried  at  ioo°  and  afterward  reduced  to  a  very 
fine  powder.  This  powder  If  exposed  to  the  air  absorbed  moisture 
rapidly  and  became  solid,  in  this  respect  very  much  resembling 
squill.  The  moisture  was  found  to  be  5-9  per  cent.  This  was 
gotten  by  taking  that  which  had  been  dried  at  100°  and  heating  to 
constant  weight  at  1  io°.  The  ash  of  that  dried  at  ioo°  was  found 
to  be  2-30  per  cent.  14-70  per  cent,  of  this  ash  was  soluble  in 
water  and  73-30  per  cent,  in  dilute  hydrochloric  acid. 
The  usual  solvents  were  employed  successively  on  the  drug. 
Petroleum  ether  extracted  -22  per  cent,  whi-ch  was  not  further 
examined. 
Stronger  ether  dissolved  -12  per  cent.,  resinous  in  character. 
This  treated  with  warm  water  and  the  water  tested  with  ferric 
chloride  indicated  the  absence  of  tannin  or  gallic  acid. 
This  solution  also  slightly  reduced  Fehling's  solution,  and  gave 
an  aromatic  odor  on  heating  with  dilute  hydrochloric  acid. 
