Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Aug.,  1876. 
Sium  La t if 0 Hum. 
349 
Sium  latifolium  has  a  short,  upright  root  stock,  varying  in  size  from 
one-half  to  two  inches  or  more  in  length,  and  about  the  same  in  diam- 
eter, so  it  becomes  almost  spherical  in  outline  ;  bases  of  leaves  are  still 
attached  to  the  crown.  It  presents  a  very  rough,  wrinkled  appearance, 
and  is  of  a  gray  or  yellowish-brown  color.  It  branches  at  once  into  a 
number  of  large  roots,  from  four  to  twelve,  and  even  more.  These 
are  of  the  same  color,  from  ^  to  J  or  f  inch  in  thickness,  and  2  to  6 
inches  long,  very  much  wrinkled  longitudinally,  somewhat  flattened 
and  contorted,  and  nearly  uniform  in  thickness.  On  soaking  in  water, 
they  become  about  twice  as  large.  The  dried  root  breaks  with  a  very 
short  fracture,  is  white  inside,  with  a  yellowish,  spongy  meditullium 
and  numerous  resin  cells,  which  are  plainly  visible  with  the  naked  eye, 
scattered  irregularly  throughout  the  bark.  The  root  has  rather  an 
agreeable  aromatic  odor,  and  a  sweetish,  aromatic  and  somewhat  pun- 
gent taste. 
In  attempting  to  separate  the  proximate  principles  of  the  root,  an 
alcoholic  tincture  was  made,  concentrated  and  precipitated  by  water. 
In  the  clear  aqueous  solution,  Trommer's  test  indicated  the  presence 
of  much  sugar,  besides  some  coloring  matter.  The  precipitated  oleo- 
resin  was  distilled  with  water,  the  distillate  containing  some  volatile  oil, 
which  was  colorless,  and  had  the  aromatic  odor  and  warm,  pungent 
taste  of  the  root.  The  soft  residue  was  separated  by  hot  petroleum 
benzin  into  a  fixed  oil  and  resin.  The  oil  was  thick,  deep-red,  of  a 
slight  odor  and  disagreeable  taste,  soluble  in  alcohol,  chloroform,  ether, 
oil  of  turpentine,  benzin  and  carbonbisulphide. 
The  resin  was  easily  rubbed  into  a  reddish-brown  powder,  which 
had  a  very  slight  odor  and  but  little  taste,  fusible  when  heated,  and  un- 
crystallizble,  soluble  in  alcohol,  chloroform  and  ether,  insoluble  in 
benzin  and  bisulphide  of  carbon.  This  resin  appears  to  be  the  poison- 
ous principle,  since  a  small  portion  of  it,  given  to  a  cat,  produced  in 
the  course  of  two  hours  frothing  at  the  mouth,  considerable  pain  and 
then  convulsions,  from  which,  however,  the  cat  recovered.  This  resin 
was  not  quite  pure,  since  caustic  potassa  dissolved  only  a  part,  leaving 
a  portion  insoluble,  and  not  fusible  by  heat. 
The  root  exhausted  by  alcohol  was  found  to  contain  gum,  albumen 
and  pectin,  but  no  starch. 
An  alkaloid  having  been  searched  for,  with  negative  result,  in  the 
alcoholic  tincture,  a  decoction  of  the  root  was  distilled  with  caustic 
