122  Leaves  of  Eiipatorium  Farpureum.      { ^"^rirch,' rsss/""' 
extract  of  2*14  per  cent,  of  its  original  weight ;  it  Had  a  dark-green  color, 
Avas  sparingly  soluble  in  water,  and  had  a  slightly  bitter  taste.  The 
aqueous  solution  gave  a  light  precipitate  with  potassium  tri-iodide,  but 
as  this  was  due  probably  to  only  a  small  part  of  the  bitter  principle 
which  had  escaped  solution  in  the  ether  it  was  not  further  examined. 
The  drug  was  then  exhausted  with  distilled  water  and  yielded  14*20 
per  cent,  of  extractive  matter.  20  cc.  of  this  aqueous  solution  were 
treated  with  60  cc.  of  absolute  alcohol,  and  the  precipitate  representing 
the  mucilage  was  collected,  dried  and  weighed,  yielding  4'8  per  cent. 
The  filtrate  was  evaporated  to  syrupy  consistency,  and  treated  with 
four  volumes  of  absolute  alcohol,  the  precipitate  collected  as  before, 
^ind  representing  the  dextrin,  amounted  to  4*75  per  cent.  The  filtrate, 
representing  sugar,  evaporated  to  dryness,  yielded  3'8  per  cent. 
The  drug  was  then  exhausted  with  a  2  per  cent,  aqueous  solution 
of  sodium  hydrate,  and  yielded  to  it  16*30  per  cent,  of  its  w^eight. 
This  solution,  acidified  with  acetic  acid  and  precipitated  with  alcohol, 
yielded  7*20  per  cent,  of  albuminoid  matter. 
Exhaustion  of  the  drug  with  a  2  per  cent,  aqueous  solution  of 
hydrochloric  acid  yielded  6*91  per  cent,  extractive.  On  treating  the 
solution  with  sodium  hydrate  and  collecting  the  precipitate  represent- 
ing calcium  oxalate,  1*8  per  cent,  was  obtained. 
The  active  principle  of  this  drug  is  evidently  a  glucoside  of  a  bitter 
taste,  soluble  in  ether,  alcohol  and  water,  and  should  be  further 
■examined.  The  other  constituents  are  not  materially  different  from 
those  found  in  many  other  plants  of  this  natural  order,  as  seen  by  the 
following  summary  : 
SUMMARY. 
Ash   4*16 
Moisture   5*54 
Petroleum  ether  extract :  Volatile  oil  ("IS ),  wax,  resin  and 
chlorophyll   6*99 
Ethereal  extract :  Bitter  principle,  resin  and  chlorophyll  2*90 
Alcoholic  extract :  Bitter  principle,  resin  and  chlorophyll  2*14 
Aqueous  extract :  Mucilage  %   4*80 
Dextrin   .  4*75 
Sugar....   3-80  14*20 
Dilute  soda  extract:  Albuminoids  (720),  etc   16*30 
Dilute  hydrochloric  acid  extract:  Calcium  oxalate  (1*80)  ...  6*91 
Lignin  and  cellulose   37-00 
Loss   2-96 
10000 
