152  Neutral  Binciple  in  Blach  Snake  Root.  \  ^In""' 
matter.  The  tincture  was  set  aside  and  allowed  to  evaporate  sponta- 
neously. The  resulting  powder  was  treated  repeatedly  with  benzine. 
The  several  washings  were  mixed  and  evaporated,  yielding  a  minute 
portion  of  a  disagreeable,  nauseous,  fatty  substance  without  color. 
llh.Q  potvder  was  freed  from  the  odor  of  benzine,  placed  on  a  filter  and 
thoroughly  washed  with  water ;  then  dried  and  dissolved  in  sixteen 
times  its  weight  of  strong  alcohol,  forming  a  saturated  solution.  This 
was  mixed  with  one  hundred  and  twenty  grains  of  pure  alumina? 
moistened  w^ith  a  few  drops  of  water,  and  agitated  for  twenty-four 
hours.  Then  put  in  a  capsule  and  evaporated  spontaneously  to  a 
very  dry  light  mass.  This  was  put  on  a  filter  and  hot  alcohol  poured 
on  it  until  entirely  exhausted.  This  was  allowed  to  evaporate,  and 
there  remained  a  crystalline  substance  of  a  light  yellow  color,  not  of 
a  very  regular  or  decided  shape,  but  of  a  massy  appearance,  resem- 
bling almost  exactly  the  crystals  of  sulphate  of  alumina  on  a  small 
scale.  But  under  the  microscope,  at  a  low  power,  their  crystalline 
form  was  more  distinct,  presenting  an  appearance  similar  to  that  of 
rock  candy.  This  substance  in  powder  has  little  taste,  on  account  of 
its  extreme  insolubility  in  the  liquids  of  the  mouth.  But  its  solution 
in  alcohol  has  the  intensely  acrid  and  sharp  taste  that  characterizes 
recent  cimicifuga. 
The  crystals  have  the  following  characteristics  :  They  are  very 
soluble  in  cold  alcohol,  more  so  when  heated.  Dissolve  readily  in 
dilute  alcohol,  also  in  chloroform,  and  slightly  in  ether ;  but  are  en- 
tirely insoluble  in  benzine,  turpentine  and  bisulphide  of  carbon. 
Fusible  at  a  moderate  temperature,  at  a  higher  taking  fire,  and  at  a 
red  heat  entirely  dissipated. 
This  substance,  from  the  following  experiments  and  their  results, 
appears  to  be  a  neutral  principle  : 
A  small  quantity  moistened  on  a  jar  lid  with  liquor  potassa,  and 
approaciied  with  the  stopper  of  a  muriatic  acid  bottle  did  not  give  off 
the  characteristic  white  fumes  of  a  volatile  alkaloid,  nor  did  it  produce 
fumes  when  heated  with  liquor  potassa  and  brought  near  muriatic 
acid,  as  an  ordinary  alkaloid.  A  small  quantity  with  liquor  potassa 
put  in  a  tube  with  a  small  outlet,  was  gently  heated,  but  no  odor  of 
ammonia  was  given  off*.  Reddened  litmus  paper  remains  unchanged 
by  continued  contact  with  its  solution.  Entirely  incompatible  with 
all  acids  refusing  to  unite  with  them  in  any  form  or  proportion.  These 
few  facts  point  very  strongly  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  neither  an 
