45  8  Alkaloids  of  Baccharis  Coridifolia.     { ^sfcf^ 
any  period  during  the  fine  weather,  even  as  late  as  October,  when  they 
can  be  removed  without  injuring  the  tree.  The  extract  of  walnut,  in- 
order  to  represent  the  active  principles  as  completely  as  possible,  should 
be  prepared  with  such  leaves  recently  dried.  The  extract  prepared 
from  the  defecated  juice  is  as  rich  in  tannin,  but  does  not  keep  so  well,, 
whilst  that  prepared  by  decoction  should  be  rejected.  The  leaves  fall- 
ing in  autumn  should  not  be  used,  although  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  they  are  often  employed  in  preparing  the  extract  of  commerce. 
Walnut  leaves  of  good  quality  are  of  a  fine  green  color  on  their 
upper  surface  and  of  a  darker  green  underneath,  with  brown  petioles* 
They  have  a  parchment-like  texture,  an  aromatic  odor  and  a  freely 
bitter  and  astringent  taste.  Altered  leaves  lose  the  greater  part  of  their 
odor  and  bitterness,  and  turn  a  dirty  green  color,  approaching  brown. 
Fallen  autumn  leaves  sometimes  have  yellow  spots  on  their  surface. — 
Pharm.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  July  12,  1879,  p.  25,  from  Repertoire  de 
Pharmacie,  vol.  vii,  p.  145. 
THE  ALKALOID  OF  MIO-MIO  (Baccharis  coridifolia).1 
By  Pedro  N.  Arata. 
The  Mio-Mio  {Baccharis  coridifolia,  Lam.)  is  a  composite  plant,, 
abundant  in  the  Banda  Oriental  del  Uruguay,  the  Argentine  Republic 
and  Brazil.  The  notoriety  which  this  plant  has  acquired  in  these 
countries  is  due  to  the  toxic  action  which  it  exercises  upon  the  animal 
organism,  it  being  the  cause  of  considerable  losses  of  sheep  and  cattle 
to  the  farmers;  and  it  is  the  more  dreaded  because  the  animals  con- 
found it  with  the  healthy  pasture  among  which  it  grows.  The  author 
reports  that  he  has  obtained  from  this  plant  an  alkaloid  in  sufficient 
quantity  to  allow  of  the  following  description. 
The  dry  powdered  plant  was  boiled  with  distilled  water  in  a  porce- 
lain capsule  and  the  water  separated  by  decantation,  the  operation  being 
repeated  until  the  material  was  completely  exhausted.  The  united 
liquors  were  filtered  and  evaporated,  at  first  over  a  fire,  and  afterwards 
in  a  water-bath,  to  the  consistence  of  an  extract,  which  was  mixed  with 
double  its  weight  of  a  mixture  of  caustic  lime  and  magnesia,  and  the 
evaporation  was  then  continued  to  dryness.  The  product  was  pul- 
verized and  digested  for  48  hours  with  amylic  alcohol  in  a  closed  vessel 
JAbstract  of  a  paper  in  the  "Annales  de  la  Sociedad  Cientifica  Argentina,"  voL 
iv,  p.  34. 
