Amoc°tu!'x87h6arm-}  Megarrhiza  Calif ornica.  453 
To  the  principle  thus  obtained,  the  name  of  megarrhizin  is  given.  It 
is  of  a  brownish  color,  somewhat  transparent,  brittle  and  friable,  yield- 
ing a  yellowish-brown  powder.  It  is  fusible  below  ioo°  C,  inflamma- 
ble, more  soluble  in  alcohol  than  in  water,  both  solutions  being 
intensely  bitter.  It  is  insoluble  in  ether.  The  following  reactions, 
with  reagents,  were  obtained:  H2S04,  disssolved  it  slowly  with  the  • 
production  of  first  a  bright  red  and  afterwards  a  brown  color  ;  HC1 
gave  a  faint  violet  color  ;  HNQ3,  a  yellow,  dull  color.  An  aqueous 
solution  of  it  produced  with  ferric  chloride  a  deep  color,  but  no  precip- 
itate ;  with  plumbic  acetate  and  subacetate,  mercuric  chloride,  solution 
of  iodine,  potassa  or  its  carbonate,  or  argentic  nitrate,  no  change  ;  with 
tannic  acid,  a  bulky,  gelatinous  precipitate,  and  .with  bromine  water,  a 
white,  insoluble  precipitate.  Boiled  with  baryta  water,  decomposition 
ensued  ;  treated  with  dilute  H2S04  or  HC1,  no  change  was  observed  in 
the  cold,  but  upon  boiling,  immediately  decomposition  took  place, 
yielding  glucose  and  an  insoluble  substance,  which  may  be  called 
megarrhizioretin. 
This  megarrhizioretin  when  washed  and  dried  possesses  a  dark- brown 
color,  a  resinous  appearance  and  is  somewhat  brittle.  Alcohol  dis- 
solves it,  but  ether  is  only  a  partial  solvent  of  it,  leaving  an  insoluble 
portion  behind.     It  is,  therefore,  a  complex  body. 
The  ashes  showed,  on  analysis,  the  presence  of  magnesia,  lime,  iron, 
potassa,  soda,  chlorine,  sulphuric  and  phosphoric  acids,  also  a  silicious 
residue. 
It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  that  megarrhizin  belongs  to  that 
class  of  substances  known  as  glucosides,  to  which  belong  also  colo- 
cynthin  and  bryonin,  and  that  it  agrees  with  these  two  in  many  of  their 
chemical  and  physical  properties.  But  megarrhizin  differs  from  colo- 
cynthin  in  the  fact  that  colocynthein,  the  insoluble  resinous  substance 
obtained  from  the  boiling  of  it  with  diluted  acids,  is  soluble  in  ether, 
while  megarrhizioretin  is  but  partially  soluble  in  that  liquid,  thereby 
agreeing  with  bryoretin.  But  it  differs  from  bryonin  principally  in  the 
behavior  to  sulphuric  acid,  which  dissolves  megarrhizin,  yielding  a 
brown  color  ;  while  bryonin  produces  with  it  a  blue  color.  Therefore, 
it  was  concluded  to  be  a  distinct  principle. 
Physiological  Investigation. — A  sample  of  an  extract  prepared  from  an 
alcoholic  tincture,  and  also  some  of  the  bitter  principle,  were  sent  to  a 
physician  in  this  city  to  be  examined  physiologically,  and  the  following 
note  received  : 
