THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
OCTOBER,  1898. 
"analysis  of  the  rhizome  of  aralia  californica. 
By  Wiixiam  R.  Monroe,  P  C. 
Contribution  from  the  Chemical  Laboratory  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy.    No.  179. 
Aralia  californica  is  an  herbaceous  perennial  which  grows  from 
creeping  rhizomes.  In  Fig.  1  is  an  illustration  of  one  of  these  rhi- 
zomes. The  plant  is  common  in  shaded  mountain  ravines  of  the 
Coast  Range,  from  the  Gavilan  Mountains,  northward  ;  it  is  also 
found  in  Sierra  County,  California.  It  prefers  rich  soil  and  an  abun- 
dance of  moisture,  and  grows  more  luxuriantly  along  streams.  It 
could  be  obtained  in  commercial  quantities,  if  desired. 
The  rhizomes  used  in  this  work  were  collected  by  the  Experi- 
mental Bureau  of  the  University  of  California. 
They  were  in  a  very  moist  condition  when  received  ;  and,  as  they 
had  an  aromatic  odor,  it  was  deemed  best  to  make  the  determi- 
nations upon  the  material  as  received.  Accordingly  some  of  the 
finely  chopped  material  was  exhausted  by  maceration  with  successive 
portions  of  official  alcohol.  The  alcoholic  liquids  were  mixed,  and 
the  solvent  removed  from  the  dissolved  substances  by  distillation. 
The  percentage  amounts  are  all  based  on  the  fresh  rhizome,  which 
contained  70-20  per  cent,  of  moisture. 
The  official  alcohol  extracted  5-39  per  cent,  of  the  fresh  rhizome. 
The  extract  was  of  a  reddish-brown  color.  About  two-thirds  of  it 
was  soluble  in  hot  water.  The  aqueous  solution  had  a  neutral 
reaction  toward  litmus.  It  contained  sugars  equivalent,  in  their 
action  on  Fehling's  solution,  to  0-23  per  cent,  of  glucose  and  013 
(489) 
