654 
Dioscorea  Villosa. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Nov.,  1888. 
DIOSCOEEA  VILLOSA. 
By  William  Charles  Kalteyer,  Ph.  G. 
Abstract  from  a  Thesis. 
Wild  yam  root,  colic  root,  rheumatism  root,  are  the  names  given  to 
the  rhizome  of  Dioscorea  villosa,  which  grows  from  Maine  to  the  far 
West  and  South.  The  rhizome  and  its  preparations  (fluid  extract, 
tincture,  infusion,  so-called  dioscorein)  are  mostly  used  by  the  eclec- 
tics, who  consider  them  very  efficacious  in  bilious  colic.  The  rhizome 
of  the  plant  was  subjected  to  an  analysis,  Dragendorff  ^s  plant  analy- 
sis being  used  as  a  guide. 
Fifty  gm.  of  the  drug  in  No.  80  powder  were  treated  with  petro- 
leum spirit  at  an  ordinary  temperature.  This  extracted  0'208  per 
cent,  of  a  light-colored  fixed  oil  and  a  crystalline  wax.  The  wax  sep- 
arated from  the  oil,  and,  purified  by  treating  with  alcohol,  crystallized 
in  fine  stellate  needles,  having  a  silky  lustre,  melting  at  115°C.  The 
oil  and  wax  were  soluble  in  absolute  alcohol.  No  volatile  oil  was  found 
in  this  extract,  nor  was  any  obtained  by  distillation  from  another  por- 
tion of  the  drug.  The  drug  after  drying  was  next  exhausted  with 
ether ;  this  extracted  0*450  per  cent,  of  a  solid  resinous  matter.  The 
ethereal  extract,  treated  with  water  and  filtered,  reduced  Fehling^s 
solution,  due  to  a  glucoside  present,  but  this  could  not  be  investigated 
any  farther.  The  drug  was  then  treated  with  absolute  alcohol,  which 
extracted  8*440  per  cent,  of  a  resinous  mass,  having  a  very  acrid  and 
bitter  taste,  and  totally  soluble  in  water.  Applying  the  usual  tests 
for  tannin,  it  was  found  not  to  exist  in  the  rhizome.  The  aqueous  so- 
lution, acidulated  and  rendered  alkaline,  was  agitated  successively  with 
petroleum  spirit,  benzol,  chloroform  and  ether,  but  nothing  was  taken 
up,  the  liquid  retaining  the  same  bitter  and  acrid  taste  as  before  agita- 
tion. The  solution  was  then  evaporated  on  a  water-bath,  dissolved  in 
alcohol,  evaporated  again,  redissolved  in  water,  treated  with  purified 
charcoal,  filtered  and  placed  in  a  desiccator,  when  a  brown  amorphous 
substance  was  left,  having  a  bitter  and  acrid  taste,  but  all  efforts  made 
to  crystallize  this  principle  were  unsuccessful. 
To  water  the  drug  yielded  20.16  per  cent,  of  solid  matter  having 
an  acrid  and  salty  taste,  and  containing  5.256  per  cent,  of  saccharose, 
0.257  per  cent,  glucose,  0.t)84  mucilage  and  extractive  matter. 
The  portion  of  the  drug  which  was  insoluble  in  the  foregoing  men- 
strua, was  then  treated  with  0.2  per  cent,  solution  of  caustic  soda,  and 
