502 
ON  THE  ALKALOIDS  OF  HYDRASTIS. 
name  "  Hydrastia,"  which  I  proposed  for  it.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  other  alkaloid,  which  as  yet  is  known  to  be  found  in 
this  plant  only,  must  naturally  receive  its  name  from  it,  and  the 
similarity  between  the  names  hydrastia  and  hydrastina  may  lead 
to  confusion  and  mistakes.  It  may  also  be  considered  partial 
to  derive  from  one  plant  the  name  for  a  principle  that  is  found 
in  several.  If  these  objections  should  be  considered  paramount, 
then  I  suggest  for  it  the  name  xanthia,  from  the  Greek  xanthos, 
— yellow,— a  most  appropriate  name,  as  it  is  the  only  alkaloid 
known  of  a  bright  yellow  color. 
But  although  this  article  is  already  sufficiently  extended,  I 
have  not  yet  reported  the  processes  by  which  we  have  obtained 
these  preparations.  These  are  in  general  indicated  in  the 
essays  of  Mahla  and  Perrins.  But  without  going  over  the  va- 
rious experiments  we  have  tried,  and  the  possible  processes  that 
may  be  pursued,  I  will  briefly  state  those  which  we  have  found 
most  simple  and  eligible. 
1st.  The  ground  root  may  be  exhausted,  (and  this  is  best 
done  by  percolation,)  either  by  alcohol,  dilute  spirit,  or  even 
water. 
If  it  is  desired  to  obtain  and  preserve  the  dark  resinoid  principle 
which  is  abundant  in  the  root,  and  is  not  without  some  medici- 
nal value,  then  alcohol  of  ordinary  strength  must  be  used,  adding 
water  at  the  last  to  drive  out  the  spirit  that  it  may  be  recovered. 
The  alcohol  must  then  be  distilled  off,  and  the  resinoid,  (which 
should  be  named  hydrastin,)  be  allowed  to  settle,  and  be  re- 
moved and  dried. 
2d.  To  the  clear  solution,  whether  obtained  by  alcohol  or  water, 
add  hydrochloric  acid,  as  long  as  a  precipitate  is  formed,  or 
until  the  liquid  is  distinctly  sour. 
This  combines  with  both  bases,  but  the  muriate  of  hydrastia  (or 
xanthia)  being  sparingly  soluble  in  water,  or  cold  alcohol  is  pre- 
cipitated as  a  bright  yellow  powder,  and  is  collected  and  washed 
on  a  filter.  A  precipitate  may  be  obtained  by  other  acids,  and 
by  many  salts,  especially  the  muriates,  but  the  most  satisfactory 
results  are  by  free  muriatic  acid.  The  impure  muriate  thus  ob- 
tained is  purified  by  dissolving  it  in  hot  alcohol,  and  treating  it 
with  animal  charcoal,  as  described  by  others.  The  clear  solution 
on  cooling  crystallizes  in  beautiful  acicular  yellow  crystals. 
