434 
Jalap. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Sept.,  1890. 
— namely,  from  Philadelphia,  2  ;  New  York,  I  ;  St.  Louis,  i  ;  San 
Francisco,  I  ;  Peoria,  i.  They  were  numbered,  respectively,  Nos.  I, 
2,  3,  4,  5  and  6.  Samples  I  and  5  were  obtained  in  Philadelphia. 
The  price  varied  from  22  cents  to  80  cents  per  pound.  The  Chicago 
house  of  which  inquiry  had  also  been  made  for  a  sample  of  whole 
root  did  not  respond,  but  advised  the  obtaining  of  samples  from 
firms  making  the  powdering  of  drugs  a  specialty  ;  this  suggested 
the  getting  of  two  samples  in  a  powdered  state. 
Remarks. — No.  1. — Root ;  rather  small,  of  grayish  color,  horny 
texture,  not  very  heavy — some  pieces  mealy. 
No.  2. — Root ;  somewhat  larger,  rounded,  dark-colored  and  resin- 
ous— a  few  pieces  mealy. 
No.  3. — Root ;  of  good  size,  dark,  resinous,  with  some  tubers 
hollow. 
No.  4. — Root ;  very  fine  specimens,  large,  some  4^  inches  long ; 
generally  thick  and  solid,  dark-colored,  heavy  and  resinous. 
None  of  above  samples  were  worm-eaten. 
No.  j. — Powd.  Root ;  of  usual  gray  color  and  of  weak  odor  of 
jalap. 
No.  6. — Powd.  Root ;  of  somewhat  darker  gray  color,  with 
decided  odor  of  the  drug. 
Manipulations. — The  process  of  manipulation  was  the  same  as 
that  contemplated  by  the  revisers  of  our  last  Pharmacopoeia.  In 
each  case  3,500  grains  of  the  powdered  drug  was  employed,  except- 
t  ing  in  the  case  of  No.  4,  where  only  3,000  grs.  were  used.  The  root 
was  first  rasped,  dried  and  then  reduced  to  a  fine  powder ;  moist- 
ened with  alcohol,  sp.  gr.  0*820  (6o°  F.),  packed  firmly  in  a  long, 
narrow,  cylindrical  glass  percolator.  Enough  alcohol  was  added  to 
saturate  the  powder  and  leave  a  stratum  above  it,  the  lower  orifice 
was  closed,  and  the  powder  macerated  for  3  days.  Percolation  was 
then  continued  until  the  powder  was  completely  exhausted,  and  the 
last  drops  of  liquid  that  passed  were  devoid  of  color,  taste  and 
odor  of  the  drug,  and  produced  no  cloudiness  when  dropped  into 
water.  The  alcoholic  tincture  thus  obtained  was  evaporated  to 
about  3  fl.  oz.  and  precipitated  with  4  pints  of  water,  previously 
reduced  to  a  temperature  of  about  500  F.  After  decanting  the 
clear  liquid  from  the  precipitated  resin,  and  repeated  washings,  the 
resin  was  carefully  dried,  weighed  and  separately  preserved. 
Ether -soluble  Resin. — At  the  suggestion  of  Prof.  Maisch  the  per 
