A^it?,rif79?rnl'}  -Analysis  of  Eriodictyon  Caiifornicum.  545 
returned  to  the  store  to  ask  if  she  had  not  been  given  the  wrong 
article. 
One  thousand  grains  of  the  dried  rhizome  were  boiled  with  three 
portions  of  water  and  expressed,  and  the  resulting  decoction  was  evap- 
orated to  the  consistence  of  an  extract,  which  weighed  540  grains, 
over  50  per  cent,  soluble  in  water.  The  portion  remaining  after  mak- 
ing the  decoctions  was  exhausted  with  alcohol  and  treated  for  resin  ; 
but  the  yield  was  scarcely  perceptible,  not  more  than  two  or  three 
grains. 
I  am  unable  to  review  the  literature  of  Podophyllum  at  present,  but 
it  was  pretty  well  reviewed  by  Mr.  F.  W.  Power  in  his  article  in  the 
"Proceedings  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association"  for  1877. 
The  results  obtained  by  me  are  different  than  I  expected,  and  they  also 
differ  from  those  of  Mr.  Power. 
ANALYSIS  OF  ERIODICTYON  CALIFORNICUM. 
By  Chas.  Mohr, 
Read  at  the  twenty-seventh  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical 
Association,  and  communicated  by  the  author. 
Eriodictyon  Caiifornicum  is  receiving  attention  for  its  action  in  lung  diseases  and 
bronchial  affections.  What  is  its  therapentical  value,  and  to  what  is  its  activity 
due?    Make  a  chemical  examination  of  it. 
In  reply  to  this  query  it  was  found  necessary  to  subject  the  plant  to 
the  regular  course  of  analysis  followed  in  the  separation  of  the  organic 
constituents  of  plants. 
Ten  grams  of  the  air-dried  herb,  of  good  quality,  successively 
exhausted  by  pure  ether,  alcohol  of  95  per  cent.,  and  distilled  water, 
yielded  the  following  results  : 
1.  The  ethereal  percolate,  evaporated  spontaneously  and  finally  by 
application  of  gentle  heat,  was  mixed  with  water.  A  copious  precipi- 
tate of  resinous  matter  occurred;  the  supernatant  aqueous  liquid,  after 
having  been  freed  from  suspended  resin,  was  of  a  very  pale  straw  color, 
slight  taste  and  faint  acid  reaction. 
A.  Examination  of  Resinous  Precipitate. — By  treating  with  boiling 
alcohol  of  70  per  cent,  for  an  hour,  and  subsequent  maceration  at  a 
low  temperature  for  24  hours,  filtering  and  washing  the  undissolved 
portion  with  alcohol  of  70  per  cent.,  and  digesting  the  concentrated 
34 
