556  Concerning  Two  Sweet-tasting  Drugs.  {A^cJe^/\Hf' 
and  revealed  the  fact  that  both  the  convallarin  of  the  market  and 
that  as  it  exists  in  the  plant  have  this  composition.  Convallaria 
majalis  contains  two  principles — an  acid  and  a  neutral  convallarin. 
Both  possess  in  a  high  degree  the  typical  saponin  action  on  blood. 
The  other  principle,  eupatorin,  with  the  chemical  formula 
C42H68O20  +  H20,  if  simplified  and  written  2(C21H34O10)  -f-  H20, 
also  belongs  to  this  series.  Curiously  enough,  this  formula  is  al- 
ready shared  by  four  other  saponins^-guaiac  bark  saponic  acid, 
achras  saponin,  helleborein,  and  strophanthinic  acid,  the  latter  being 
yielded  by  the  seeds  of  Strophanthus  gratus.  Consequently  it  seemed 
highly  important  to  test  this  new  glucoside  (eupatorin)  biologically  in 
order  to  determine  whether  it  belongs  to  the  saponin  group  or  not. 
Inasmuch  as  the  genus  Eupatorium  belongs  to  the  very  large  family 
Composite,  only  few  plants  of  which  are  known  to  contain  saponins, 
the  investigation  promised  to  be  very  interesting  indeed. 
Eupatorin  is  found  abundantly  in  the  leaves  of  Eupatorium  re- 
baudianum  Bertoni,  a  plant  growing  wild  in  the  mountainous  dis- 
tricts of  Paraguay.  Further  investigation  showed  that  E.  canna- 
binum,  E.  ageratoidis  L.,  and  E.  purpureum  L.  all  contain  saponins. 
Eupatorin  is  an  ash-free,  neutral,  and  well-crystallizable  glucoside. 
It  is  soluble  in  water  and  alcohol,  froths  strongly  in  water,  dialyzes 
in  aqueous  solutions,  and  consists  of  an  acid  and  a  neutral  saponin. 
The  latter  has  a  sweet  taste,  is  soluble  in  alcohol,  and  is  not  precipi- 
tated by  lead  acetate. 
Dietrich  isolated  still  another  and  apparently  closely  allied  prin- 
ciple from  the  drug  E.  rebaudianum,  which  he  termed  rebaudin. 
This  principle  is  even  sweeter  than  eupatorin,  being  about  180  times 
sweeter  than  sugar,  while  eupatorin  is  about  150  times  sweeter. 
Eupatorin  and  rebaudin,  as  well  as  the  sapogenins  derived  from  them 
on  hydrolysis,  possess  marked  hemolytic  action  on  both  animal  and 
human  blood.  This  proves  that  eupatorin  as  well  as  rebaudin  is  a 
true  saponin,  and  the  value  of  this  general  formula  (CnH2n_8Oi0) 
as  a  guide  has  once  more  been  proved. 
Another  sweet-tasting  drug  to  which  Professor  Robert  has  given 
attention  is  glycyrrhiza.  This  drug  contains  no  less  than  four 
sweet-tasting  principles — cane  sugar,  grape  sugar,  mannit,  and 
glycyrrhizin,  the  latter  being  present  in  the  drug  in  considerable 
quantity.  Inasmuch  as  glycyrrhizin,  like  other  saponin-containing 
drugs,  contains  saccharic  acid  in  chemical  combination,  it  seemed 
