Am.  Jour.  Pharm,  \ 
March,  1336.  J 
Laboratory  Notes. 
117 
as  it  seems  to  differ  in  medical  properties.  I  hope  to  procure  reliable 
specimens  with  the  view  of  removing  any  doubt  or  uncertainty  that 
may  still  exist. 
LABORATORY  NOTES. 
Abstracts  from  Theses. 
Nabalus  albus,  Hooker,  is  known  as  white  lettuce,  lion's  foot  and 
rattlesnake  root.  The  milky  juice  used  internally  and  the  leaves  ap- 
plied topically  were  formerly  employed  in  bites  of  the  rattlesnake,  and 
a  decoction  of  the  root  is  used  in  domestic  practice  in  dysentery  and 
as  a  tonic.  Neri  B.  Williams,  Ph.G.,  described  the  root  as  being  tuber- 
ous, from  1  to  6  inches  long,  J  to  1  inch  thick,  furnished  with  several 
rootlets,  yellowish,  internally  white  and  emitting  a  milk-juice;  after 
drying  it  breaks  with  a  short  fracture  and  is  readily  pondered;  the 
odor  is  slight  and  peculiar,  and  the  taste  bitter. 
A  tincture,  made  with  diluted  alcohol,  4  oz.  of  the  powdered  root 
to  the  pint,  was  of  a  deep  amber  color,  and  was  advantageously  used 
by  a  physician  in  anemic  diarrhoea,  chronic  dysentery,  and  in  typhoid 
fever  for  its  tonic  and  astringent  properties;  also  topically  in  a  case 
of  pruritus  ani. 
A  proximate  analysis  of  the  root  showed  the  presence  of  tannin, 
gum,  extractive,  coloring  matter,  waxy  matter  and  resins,  partly 
soluble  in  ether.    The  ash  amounted  to  about  12  per  cent. 
Fraxinus  americana. — Jos.  C.  Roberts,  Ph.G.,  obtained  the  fol- 
lowing results  with  the  root  bark : 
1.  Moisture,  loss  by  drying  at  105°  C,  9'63  per  cent. 
2.  Ash,  5*33  per  cent.  Of  this  amount  6  2-5  per  cent,  were  soluble 
in  water,  86.67  per  cent,  soluble  in  dilute  hydroahloric  acid,  and  the 
remainder  soluble  in  caustic  soda. 
3.  Benzol  extracted  0  67  per  cent.,  containing  a  little  volatile  oiL 
The  filtered  aqueous  solution  of  the  extract  gave  a  precipitate  with 
phosphomolybdic  acid,  the  portion  insoluble  in  water  was  resin  and 
dissolved  in  80  per  cent,  alcohol. 
4.  Alcohol  (8.0  per  cent.),  yielded  a  brown,  somewhat  bitter  and 
acrid  extract,  which  on  being  treated  with  various  solvents  and  chemi- 
cals showed  the  presence  of  tannin,  alkaloid,  resin  aud  sugar. 
