Am,Au^"i?9oarm'}  Res™  of  Podophyllum  and  Podophyllin.  387 
Mr.  Merrell,  however,  did  not  originate  the  term  as  some  have 
supposed,  neither  is  it  of  Eclectic  origin  as  the  majority  have 
accepted.  Upon  the  contrary,  my  investigations  indicate  that  the 
word  podophyllin  was  devised  by  no  less  authority  than  the  authors 
of  the  United  States  Dispensatory,  and  in  connection  therewith, 
we  are  thrown  back  to  the  original  investigation  of  podophyllum.  . 
When  Mr.  Hodgson  (1832)1  searched  for  the  purgative  principle  of 
podophyllum,  obtaining  by  a  tedious  method  "  pale  brown  scales  of 
considerable  lustre,"  which  he  inferred  might  dominate  the  drug, 
he  refrained  from  affixing  thereto  a  name.  Our  present  knowledge 
of  the  nature  of  the  mixture  of  partly  resinous  substances  that 
carry  the  therapeutical  force  of  the  drug  is  evidence,  conclusive 
perhaps,  that  Mr.  Hodgson's  search  of  the  decoction  of  podophyl- 
lum root  was  mainly  fruitless  and  could  not  have  resulted  satisfac- 
torily. Even  the  use  of  lime  in  his  second  experiment,  which 
resulted  in  the  solution  of  considerable  disorganized  resinous  bodies 
was  counteracted  by  their  subsequent  precipitation  with  sulphate  of 
zinc,  the  clear  aqueous  solution  obtained  thereby  being  practically 
destitute  of  the  substances  now  accepted  as  characteristic  of  the 
drug.  Notwithstanding,  since  the  work  of  Mr.  Hodgson,  was  the 
only  recorded  investigation  that  had  been  made,2  the  authors  of  the 
United  States  Dispensatory  gave  it  considerable  prominence  in  their 
first  edition  (1833),  and  added  thereto,  "Should  it  be  found  to  be 
the  purgative  principle  of  the  plant,  it  would  be  entitled  to  the 
name  podophyllin! '3  I  can  find  no  previous  record  of  such  a  word, 
and  the  high  standing  and  careful  work  of  the  authors  of  the 
United  States  Dispensatory  render  it  conclusive  in  my  mind  that  they 
created  the  term,  for  had  they  borrowed  it,  credit  and  reference 
would  surely  have  been  extended  the  originator.  Thus,  it  was  that 
when  through  the  therapeutical  investigations  of  Prof.  King  cor- 
roborated by  those  of  his  associates,  Prof.  T.  V.  Morrow,  Prof.  Hill 
and  others,  the  fact  was  demonstrated  that  this  resin-like  precipitate 
possessed  the  cathartic  qualities  of  the  root  in  an  intensified  degree, 
1  Paper  read  before  the  Phila.  College  of  Pharmacy,  November,  183 1,  pub- 
lished in  the  Am.  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  January,  1832,  p.  273. 
2  Rannesque,  1830,  Medical  Flora  or  Manual  of  the  Medical  Botany  of  the 
United  States,  vol.  2,  p.  60,  states:  "It  contains  resin,  fecula,  bitter  extractive, 
gallic  acid,  and  a  gummy  substance." 
3  Italicized  in  the  original. 
I 
