AmAi0rii?i879arm"}         Constituents  of  Sanguinaria.  171 
It  has  been  used  with  benefit  in  cardiac  asthma,  phthisis  (especially 
laryngeal  phthisis),  chronic  bronchitis  and  dilation  of  the  bronchial 
tubes.  Its  action  in  catarrhal  affections  is  rapid  and  permanent.  A 
cold  in  the  head  may  be  abated  by  two  or  three  doses.  Mixed  in  boil- 
ing water,  and  used  by  inhalation,  it  has  been  found  very  beneficial  in 
chronic  ozena. 
Considering  the  great  and  diversified  power  of  the  saw  palmetto  as 
a  therapeutic  agent,  it  seems  strange  that  it  should  have  so  long  escaped 
the  notice  of  the  medical  profession.  Several  years  ago,  while  on  a 
hunting  trip  in  the  wilds  of  Florida,  my  attention  was  drawn  to  the 
great  fattening  properties  of  the  berries,  and  the  peculiar  quality  of  the 
fat  of  the  animals  that  feed  on  them.  Most  animals  in  the  palmetto 
region  are  very  fond  of  the  fruit.  During  the  summer  months  in  these 
parts  the  supply  of  food  is  scanty  for  such  animals  as  bears,  racoons^ 
opossums  and  hogs,  and  they  have  to  work  hard  to  eke  out  a  living 
from  roots  and  such  animal  food  as  they  can  find  on  the  sea  coast — as 
turtle  eggs  and  dead  fish — and  they  consequenrly  become  very  thin. 
As  soon,  however,  as  the  palmetto  berries  begin  to  ripen,  they  improve 
rapidly,  and  in  a  few  weeks  have  acquired  an  enormous  quantity  of  fat,, 
so  as  to  become  so  unwieldly  that  they  are  an  easy  prey  to  the  hunter. 
This  fat,  like  that  of  mast  eating  animals,  consists  principally  of  olein,. 
and  will  not  make  lard.  The  berries,  when  dropped  into  water,  are 
seized  and  eaten  with  avidity  by  the  fishes.  Even  the  natives  fre- 
quently acquire  a  taste  for  the  berries  and  eat  them  freely. 
ON  SOME  CONSTITUENTS  OF  THE  RHIZOME  OF 
SANGUINARIA. 
By  Fred.  W.  Carpenter,  Ph.G. 
[From  a  thesis  presented  to  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy.  ) 
The  rhizome,  in  moderately  fine  powder,  was  exhausted  in  a  perco- 
lator with  water  acidulated  with  acetic  acid.  The  percolate  was  evap- 
orated to  a  convenient  bulk,  and  ammonia  added  until  a  precipitate 
ceased  to  form.  This  precipitate,  of  a  purple  color,  was  separated 
from  the  mother-liquor  by  a  filter,  and  thoroughly  washed  with  water. 
The  filtrate  (a)  was  of  a  dark  brown  color,  having  lost  the  deep  red 
color  of  the  infusion.  The  precipitate  (b)  was  then  dried,  and  mace- 
rated with  successive  portions  of  ether,  until  no  residue  was  left  op. 
