Amsiptf;i88h6arm*}         Gleanings  in  Materia  Medica.  449 
ter,  sugary  hard  tasteless  resin,  soft  resin  (having  a  somewhat  burning 
taste  and  soluble  in  petroleum  benzin),  and  gum,  but  no  starch ;  an  al- 
kaloid could  not  be  detected.  Several  of  the  products  administered  to 
cats  produced  no  symptoms  of  poisoning. 
Prof.  Power  considers  the  wild-grown  parsnip  root  to  be  not  poison- 
ous, and  refers  to  communications  from  Dr.  J.  J.  Brown,  of  Sheboy- 
gan, Wis.,  and  Dr.  Yacey,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  in  confirmation  of 
this  view.  The  popular  belief  that  wild  parsnip  root  is  poisonous, 
may  have  originated  from  mistaking  for  it  the  roots  of  the  cowpars- 
nip,  Heracleum  lanatum,  Mich.,  water-parsnip  (Sium),  and  other  tall 
umbelliferous  plants. —  Contributions  Dep.  Phar.,  Univ.  Wis.,  1886,  p. 
39-44. 
The  Leaves  of  Podophyllum  peltatum,  Lin.,  collected  soon  after 
flowering,  have  been  analyzed  by  Benj.  F.  Carter  ( Contrib.  Dep.  Phar., 
Univ.  Wis,  1886,  p.  35-38),  who  determined  the  presence  of  acetic 
acid,  coloring  matter,  probably  a  kind  of  tannin  and  uncrystallizable 
sugar.  Alkaloids  are  absent.  The  resin  amounted  to  6  per  cent.,  was 
greenish  black  of  an  oily  appearance,  soluble  in  alkalies  and  com- 
pletely precipitated  by  acids,  also  freely  soluble  in  alcohol,  90  per  cent, 
soluble  in  ether,  86  per  cent,  in  chloroform,  72  per  cent,  in  carbon 
disulphide,  67  per  cent,  in  benzol,  and  40  per  cent,  in  petroleum  ben- 
zin  ;  it  also  dissolves  to  a  considerable  extent  in  boiling  water.  Ether 
dissolves  the  soft  resin,  the  hard  resin  remaining  behind.  Fused  with 
potassa  a  very  small  amount  of  protocatechuic  acid  appears  to  be 
formed.  The  resin  has  a  bitter  taste  and  a  very  much  milder  action 
than  that  of  the  rhizome. 
The  leaves  had  been  previously  examined  by  T.  J.  Husband,  Jr. 
(Am.  Jour.  Phar.,  1869,  p.  200),  and  by  Dr.  S.  P.  Duffield  (Proc. 
Am.  Phar.  Asso.,  1868,  p.  147);  the  latter  did  not  obtain  any  resin 
from  the  leaves  collected  in  May,  and  only  *03  per  cent,  of  resin  from 
leaves  collected  late  in  autumn. 
Lupinus  luteus,  Lin. — Baeyer  (Landw.  Versuchs-Stat.,  ix,  168,  and 
xiv,  164)  and  Eichhorn  (Landw.  Versuchs-Stat.,  ix,  275)  have  de- 
scribed briefly  a  dextrin-like  substance,  which  they  found  in  the 
seed  of  this  plant.  It  is  soluble  in  alcohol,  dextrorotatory,  and 
converted  by  mineral  acids  into  sugar  which  reduces  alkaline  copper 
solution.  E.  Steiger  (Berichte,  1876,  pp.  827-830)  has  obtained  it  as 
a  white,  hygroscopic  powder,  soluble  in  water,  insoluble  in  ether  and 
absolute  alcohol,  and  having  the  formula  C6H10O5.   It  is  not  changed 
'  29 
