Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
Dec,  1876.  J 
Lycoperdon  Solidum. 
553 
Now  the  analysis  of  the  free  alkaloid  led  to  C5.8H10.5NO2.  Multi- 
plying this  by  4,  and  deducting  4.H20,  we  obtain  the  above  formula 
derived  from  the  analysis  of  the  platinum  salt  : 
C23H34N404.(4H20)  =  as  dried  in  'vacuo. 
C23H35N404  —  as  combined  with  PtCl4. 
In  conclusion,  I  have  to  express  my  indebtedness  to  Dr.  Thudichum 
for  having  kindly  placed  his  laboratory  at  my  disposal  during  the  prose- 
cution of  the  foregoing  research. — Jour.  Chem.  Soc,  Oct.,  1876. 
CHEMICAL  EXAMINATION  OF  FUH-LING  [Lycoperdon  Solidum)  FROM 
CHINA. 
BY    J.  L.   KELLER,  OF  CHARLOTTESVILLE,  VIRGINIA. 
Among  a  number  of  interesting  specimens  which  Mr.  Justus  Eck, 
of  London,  was  kind  enough  to  present,  some  two  or  three  years  ago, 
to  the  laboratory  collections  of  this  University,  was  one  of  this  curious 
material,  accompanied  by  the  following  extract  in  reference  to  it  from 
the  late  Mr.  D.  Hanbury's  "  Notes  on  Chinese  Materia  Medica  :" 
"  Fuh-ling  ;  Pa.hyma  cocos,  Fries  [Fungi) ;  Lycoperdon  solidum,  Gro- 
novius  ;  P^-fo-linn,  Cleyer  {Med.  Sin.,  No.  189),  Tafarinov  (Cat,  Med. 
Sin.,  pp.  2-23)  ;  Puntsaon  ;  Indian  Bread  ;  or  Tuckahoe.  A  very 
large  remarkable  substance  resembling  ponderous  rounded  tubers  having 
a  rough  blackish  brown  bark-like  exterior,  and  consisting  internally  of 
a  compact  mass  of  considerable  hardness,  varying  in  color  from  cinna- 
mon brown  to  pure  white.  These  tuberiform  bodies,  which  in  weight 
vary  from  a  few  ounces  up  to  several  pounds,  are  found  attached  to 
the  roots  of  fir  trees,  or  sometimes  buried  in  the  ground  of  localities 
where  firs  no  longer  grow.  They  occur  in  South  Carolino, 1  in  some 
of  the  northern  and  western  provinces  of  China,  and  in  Japan.  Their 
true  nature  is  sufficiently  perplexing.  The  older  writers  considered  them 
to  be  a  sort  of  China  root  (Smilax),  a  supposition  which  their  outward 
appearance  certainly  favors,  but  which  is  immediately  negatived  when 
we  find  them  to  contain  no  trace  of  starch.  Loureiro  and  Endlicher 
are  content  to  describe  them  as  tubers  found  upon  the  roots  of  fir 
1  They  are  by  no  means  peculiar  to  this  State.  I  have  seen  specimens  found  at 
various  points  from  Virginia  to  Alabama  on  the  Atlantic  side  of  the  country,  and, 
as  will  be  seen  by  the  quotation  from  Report  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  they 
extend  as  far  west  as  Kansas. 
