ON  PODOPHYLLUM 
303 
It  was  extremely  bitter  to  the  taste,  and  very  permanent.  In 
the  dose  of  one  quarter  of  a  grain,  it  operated  as  a  brisk  purge, 
and  in  double  that  quantity,  it  acted  as  a  decided  cathartic, 
attended  with  nausea  and  some  distress. 
A  portion  of  podophyllin  was  treated  with  concentrated  sul- 
phuric ether,  the  whole  thrown  on  a  filter  and  thoroughly  washed 
by  that  menstruum — the  residue  presented  a  black  resinoid 
appearance,  and  was  dissolved  in  alcohol,  and  boiled  with  purified 
animal  charcoal  till  deprived  of  color ;  by  evaporation  it  was 
obtained,  at  one  time,  in  light  feathery  scales,  but  at  another, 
in  the  form  of  a  granular  powder.  This  is  the  resin  of  podo- 
phyllum, corresponding  to  the  officinal  resin  of  jalap,  from  which, 
however,  it  materially  differs,  being  even  less  active  than  the 
article  from  which  it  was  procured,  as  it  was  taken,  to  the 
amount  of  one  grain,  without  producing  the  slightest  effect. 
There  is  another  point  in  which  it  is  dissimilar  to  those  resins 
with  which  it  has  usually  been  classed,  namely,  a  solution  of  it 
in  caustic  potassa,  in  which  it  is  freely  soluble,  was  precipitated 
by  an  acid,  the  same  being  the  case  when  ammonia  was  the  sol- 
vent. It  was  also  thrown  out  of  solution  in  alcohol,  on  the  addi- 
tion of  caustic  potassa,  but  was  re-dissolved  by  excess  of  alkali. 
Acetic  and  sulphuric  acids,  by  the  aid  of  heat  and  nitric  acid 
in  the  cold,  also  dissolved  it. 
It  exhibited,  with  test  paper,  no  coloration,  although  by  some, 
thought  to  possess  acid  properties. 
Another  portion  of  podophyllin  was  treated  with  a  weak  solu- 
tion of  carbonate  of  soda  for  forty-eight  hours.  At  the  end  of 
that  time  it  was  thrown  upon  a  filter,  and  water  passed  through, 
till  all  traces  of  the  alkali  were  lost ;  the  residue  was  dried,  and 
found  to  be  identical  with  the  foregoing  resin,  as  it  was  insoluble 
in  ether,  and  freely  soluble  in  alcohol,  and  with  reagents  exhib- 
ited the  same  results.  It  also  did  not  produce  any  effect 
when  taken  internally,  in  the  dose  of  one  grain. 
The  other  resin  separated  from  the  podophyllin  by  means  of 
ether,  and  obtained  from  it  by  spontaneous  evaporation,  pre- 
sented a  greenish  resinous  aspect,  very  brittle  when  dry,  and 
seemed  to  possess  the  odor  of  the  root  without  its  extreme  bitter- 
ness. Like  the  first,  its  solution  in  an  alkali  was  precipitated  by 
the  addition  of  an  acid,  but  it  required  heating  to  the  boiling 
