Am'D°ecr,'i89oarm'}  Solarium  Caroline  use.  601 
and  this  latter  solvent  on  evaporation  left  a  greenish-brown  crystal- 
line mass,  of  a  strong  disagreeable  odor  and  a  sweet  taste  ;  tests 
with  Fehling's  solution  showed  it  to  be  an  easily  decomposable 
glucoside.  Another  crystalline  residue  was  obtained  by  making 
the  above  acid  solution,  of  the  alcoholic  extract,  alkaline  and  agita- 
ting with  ether,  chloroform  extracted  from  the  same  solution,  after 
the  agitation  with  the  other  solvents,  a  red-brown  amorphous 
mass. 
Both  of  these  residues  reduced  Fehling's  solution,  and  manji 
changes  in  color  were  noticed,  indicating  that  these  substances 
take  some  part  in  the  coloring  matter  of  the  flowers. 
The  drug  was  also  found  to  contain  2-49  per  cent,  of  mucilage, 
1 1  76  per  cent,  of-  carbohydrate  corresponding  to  dextrin,  5-48  per 
cent,  of  glucose,  1-29  per  cent,  of  saccharose,  16-76  per  cent,  of 
moisture,  4-11  per  cent,  of  ash,  and  32-75  per  cent,  of  cellulose  and 
lignin.  No  reaction  indicating  tannin  was  obtained  with  iron 
salts,  but  an  aqueous  solution  of  the  alcoholic  extract  yielded  a 
slight  precipitate  with  gelatin. 
The  seeds  which  were  also  collected  and  examined  are  small , 
about  Jg-  of  an  inch  in  length,  cone-shaped,  finely  pitted,  very 
tough,  difficult  to  powder,  nearly  inodorous,  and  possessing  a 
somewhat  acrid  taste  ;  they  are  said  to  be  narcotic,  and  to  have 
been  used  in  asthma  and  infantile  convulsions. 
They  yielded  to  petroleum  ether  20-75  Per  cent.  of  a  bright, 
green  fixed  oil.  The  acrid  principle  was  obtained  from  the  alco- 
holic extract  soluble  in  water,  by  agitating  with  petroleum  ether. 
The  moisture  was  determined  to  be  10-86  per  cent.,  and  the  ash 
3-90  per  cent. 
SOLAN UM  CAROLINENSE  {Lmn'e). 
By  G.  A.  Krauss,  Ph.G. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  College  ot  Pharmacy, 
November  18. 
This  perennial  herb  grows  in  abundance  in  the  Southern  States 
along  the  roads  and  in  dry  places,  and  reaches  a  height  of  nearly  2 
feet.  The  root  is  thin,  has  a  thick  bark  and  attains  a  length  of 
from  1^  to  2^  feet,  descending  vertically.  The  stem  is  erect  ;  the 
leaves  are  broadly  oblong,  sinuate,  serrate,  and  their  mibrid,  as 
well  as  the  stem  are  beset  with  numerous  prickles.  The  flowers 
are  rather  large  with  a  united  5-cleft  corolla,  and  a  calyx  con- 
