114 
ON  A  SPURIOUS  EXTRACT  OF  JALAP. 
Rhodeoretine  (the  hard  resin)  has  the  following  reactions  with 
reagents : 
In  Caustic  Alkalies — -Very  soluble  and  not  precipitated  on 
addition  of  a  stronger  acid. 
In  Carbonated  Alkalies. — Sparingly  soluble  and  only  after 
long  digestion. 
In  Acetic  Acid  Very  soluble,  (Pelouze  &  Fremy.)  [Requires 
warm  glacial  acetic  acid  to  dissolve  it.] — 
Sulphuric  Acid. — Concentrated  sulphuric  acid  colors  the 
resin  a  carmine  red. — (P.  &  F.) 
Nitric  Acid,  of  35°  B.  when  warm,  dissolves  the  resin  freely. 
In  Chloroform  it  softens,  but  does  not  dissolve. 
In  pure  Benzole  it  is  insoluble. 
RESIN  OF  PODOPHYLLUM. 
Podophyllum  root,  like  jalap,  contains  two  resins,  one  soluble 
and  the  other  insoluble  in  ether. 
There  appears  to  be  a  diversity  of  sentiment  as  to  which  of 
the  two  resins  the  activity  of  the  root  is  attributable. 
Mr.  J.  R.  Lewis,  (Jour,  of  Pharm.  vol.  xix.  p.  165,)  says,  both 
resins  were  found  to  possess  the  active  properties  of  the  root. 
Mr.  Cadbury  (Jour.  Pharm.  vol.  xxx.  p.  401)  found  the  ethe- 
real resin  the  most  active.  The  same  conclusion  is  arrived  at 
by  Mr.  H.  Allen,  (Jour.  Pharm.  vol.  xxxi.)  while  Mr.  W.  G. 
Parrish  considers  the  ethereal  resin  the  least  active. — (Jour. 
Pharm.  vol.  xxxii.) 
The  following  experiments  were  made  with  Podophyllin  man- 
ufactured by  W.  S.  Merrill  &  Co.  of  Cincinnati.  Ether  ex- 
tracted 63  per  cent.  Mr.  Cadbury  found  11  per  cent,  soluble 
in  ether.  The  amount  of  resin  soluble  in  ether  appears  to  vary 
with  the  season  in  which  the  root  is  collected.  Some  experiments 
detailed  in  the  "  American  Journal  of  Materia  Medica,"  for 
1859,  give  54-34  per  cent,  as  the  proportion  of  resin  soluble  in 
ether  in  Podophyllin  made  from  the  root  collected  in  the  spring, 
and  39-95  per  cent,  from  podophyllin  made  from  the  autumnal 
root. 
The  Alcoholic  Resin. 
The  resin  insoluble  in  ether  has  a  dark  olive  green  color. 
