Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  i 
Feb.,  .890.  I 
Eupatorium  Purpurenm. 
73 
EUPATORIUM  PURPUREUM. 
By  Henry  Trimble. 
Contribution  from  the  Chemical  Laboratory  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy — No.  66. 
In  the  American  Jour.  Pharmacy,  1876,  p.  331,  appears 
the  following  paragraph  in  the  minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Meeting :  "  Prof.  Maisch  donated   from  J.  U.  Lloyd  a 
specimen  of  a  yellow  neutral  crystallized  principle  obtained 
from  the  root  of  Eupatorium  purpureum.  It  is  quite  soluble  in 
hot,  slightly  so  in  cold  alcohol,  and  insoluble  in  water;  does 
not  unite  with  dilute  acids,  is  decomposed  by  strong  sulphuric 
acid,  is  tasteless,  and  as  far  as  known  has  no  medicinal  value." 
This  statement  has  frequently  attracted  my  attention,  and 
is  evidently  the  origin  of  the  remark  in  the  National  Dispen- 
satory (3d  edit.,  p.  598),  that  such  a  principle  exists,  and  that 
it  is  probably  identical  with  quercitrin.  I,  therefore,  deter- 
mined to  investigate  the  whole  subject,  and  in  the  summer 
of  1887  collected  some  of  the  leaves  of  the  above  plant,  and  had 
them  analyzed  by  F.  M.  Siggins,  Ph.G.,1  who  failed  to  find  any 
unusual  plant  constituents.  Especial  attention  was  given 
to  find  the  above-mentioned  crystalline  compound,  and  had 
we  then  possessed  the  information  I  now  have  concerning  it, 
the  result  might  have  been  different. 
In  the  summer  of  1888, 1  collected  a  quantity  of  the  rhizomes 
with  attached  rootlets,  and  they  were  analyzed  during  the 
following  winter  by  G.  Herbert  Ray,  Ph.G.,  and  the  results 
presented  in  a  graduation  thesis. 
Mr.  Ray's  investigation  was  very  carefully  conducted,  and 
the  results  I  consider  very  accurate,  although,  for  reasons 
that  will  be  given  later,  he  failed  to  find  the  crystalline  com- 
pound. The  following  is  a  full  abstract  of  his  paper  which 
has  not  previously  been  published. 
Purple  Boneset,  Trumpet  Weed,  Gravel  Root  or  Queen  of 
the  Meadow,  as  might  be  supposed  from  its  botanical  name, 
has  some  purple  characteristics,  and  these  are  found  in  its 
purplish  colored  stem  and  flowers.    The  rhizome  and  rootlets 
1  Am.  Jour.  Pharmacy,  1888,  p.  121. 
