BERBBRINE  IN  XANTltORRHIZA  APIIFOLIA.  357 
unnecessary.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  root  is  of  a  fine  yellow 
color,  and  popularly  called  in  the  United  States,  "Yellow  root." 
I  was  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  Daniel  Hanbury,  Esq.,  for  a 
specimen  of  this  root ;  but  finding  a  large  quantity  would  be  re- 
quired for  my  purpose,  and  failing  to  meet  with  it  in  this  coun- 
try, I  obtained  a  supply  from  a  correspondent  in  New  York. 
The  mode  of  treatment  adopted  was  extremely  simple,  viz : — 
Exhausting  the  bruised  root  with  boiling  water,  and  evaporating 
the  liquid  to  a  soft  extract,  which  was  digested  in  boiling  alcohol 
so  long  as  anything  was  dissolved;  the  greater  part  of  the  alco- 
hol was  distilled  off,  and  a  little  dilute  nitric  acid  added  to  the 
residue  ;  after  standing  for  a  day  or  two,  fine  crystals  had  form- 
ed, which  were  purified  from  resin  and  other  matter  by  repeated 
crystallizations  from  water,  with  the  cautious  use  of  animal 
charcoal,  always  adding  a  few  drops  of  dilute  nitric  acid  to  the 
liquid,  which  I  prefer  to  hydrochloric  acid ;  the  pure  salt  finally 
consisted  of  fine  acicular  yellow  crystals. 
All  the  known  reactions  of  Berberine  were  manifested ;  but  in 
order  to  place  the  matter  beyond  dispute,  the  following  analyses 
were  made.  The  nitrate,  as  above  described,  was  crystallized 
from  water  to  get  rid  of  any  possible  traces  of  free  acid,  dried 
at  a  temperature  of  212°  Fahr.,  and  burned  with  chromate  of 
lead. 
No.  1.  5-002  grains  gave  11-032  grains  carbonic  acid  and 
2-058  grains  water. 
No.  2.  5-213  grains  gave  11-504  grains  carbonic  acid,  and 
2-149  grains  water. 
No.  1.  No.  2.  Fleitmann. 
Carbon,  per  cent.  .  .  60-15  60- J 8  6045 
Hydrogen,     ....      4-57  4-58  4-75 
Some  of  the  platinum  salt  was  also  prepared,  dried  at  212* 
Fahr.,  and  burned  with  lead  chromate. 
6-132  grains,  gave  9-981  grains  carbonic  acid,  and 
1-882  grains  water. 
10-243  grains,  burned  with  soda   lime,   gave  4-300  grains 
ammonio-chloride  of  platinum  ;  8-516  grains  gave,  on  ignition, 
1-544  grains  platinum,  which  figures  correspond  with  the  follow- 
ing percentages : — 
