A^vTimT'}  Neutral  Principle  in  Black  Snake  Boot.  151 
denied  the  privilege  of  entering  newlj  opened  avenues  and  positively 
forbidden  to  open  any  itself?  As  astronomical  science  knows  no 
bounds,  but  embraces  the  universe,  so  let  pharmacists  at  least  regard 
medical  science  as  embracing  all  medical  knowledge. 
ON   A   NEUTRAL   CRYSTALLIZ ABLE  PRINCIPLE  IN  BLACK 
SNAKE  ROOT— (CIMICIFUGA  RACEMOSA.) 
By  T.  Ellwood  Conard. 
An  Inaugural  Essay. 
As  this  plant  is  a  very  common  one,  and  has  been  fully  described 
in  articles  heretofore  written,  I  will  not  enter  into  any  description  of 
it,  but  merely  state  the  condition  of  the  root  acted  upon  ;  and  of  the 
very  many  experiments  made  I  will  give  those  only  which  resulted 
most  satisfactorily. 
In  order  to  get  the  advantage,  if  there  should  be  any,  in  using  the 
perfectly  fresh  root,  I  obtained  it  in  this  way  directly  from  the  ground. 
It  was  dug  in  the  latter  part  of  July,  at  which  time  the  roots  were 
quite  well  developed. 
A  portion  of  these,  thoroughly  cut  and  bruised,  were  put  in  a  still 
with  water,  and  a  varied  and  continued  heat  -was  applied,  but  without 
producing  in  the  distillate  any  perceptible  amount  of  volatile  prin- 
ciple. The  addition  of  liquor  potassa  to  the  mixture  and  redistilla- 
tion was  tried,  which  also  failed  to  develope  a  volatile  oil  or  other 
substance  ;  there  was  no  separation  of  anything  from  the  water  which 
distilled  over,  nor  had  it  any  taste  or  smell,  except  an  earthy,  rooty 
taste,  characteristic  of  any  inert  vegetable  matter.  From  these  facts 
we  infer  the  root  does  not  owe  its  active  properties  to  the  possession 
of  a  volatile  substance. 
The  next  experiments  I  will  give  in  outline.  Three  and  a  half 
pounds  of  the  root,  cut  and  bruised,  were  treated  with  four  and  a  half 
pints  of  strong  alcohol  by  maceration  for  four  weeks  and  filtered. 
Two  pints  of  this  tincture  was  treated  with  three  fluidounces  of  the 
solution  of  subacetate  of  lead,  which  completely  precipitated  the  resin, 
tannin,  etc.,  and  most  of  the  coloring  matter,  as  will  be  seen  below. 
The  lead  was  separated  from  the  filtered  liquid  by  means  of  sul- 
phuretted hydrogen  in  excess;  after  agitating  for  some  time  together, 
filtered.  A  repetition  of  the  process  proved  the  solution  to  be  entirely 
free  from  resinous  or  gummy  substances,  also  from  much  coloring 
