“ The acid is inert, but picro-podophyllin is the active principle. It is a crystalline body, soluble only in concentrated alcohol. Hence the inutility of the pharmacopeial tinctura podophylli, which cannot be diluted before administration. The properties of podophyllin resin vary with the reaction of the tissue with which it is in contact; where this is acid the drug is inert, the micro-podophyllin being precipitated.
The resin does not affect the unbroken skin, but may be absorbed from a raw surface, and will then cause purging. ”

“ The fruit is ripe in July, and is an oval, yellowish, fleshy berry, containing twelve or more seeds, each surrounded by a pulpy outer coat or aril. The rhizome, as met with in commerce, occurs in cylindrical pieces 2 or 3 in. long and about 1/4 in. in diameter, of a chocolate or purplish-brown colour, smooth, and slightly enlarged where the juncture of the leafy stem is indicated by a circular scar on the upper and a few broken rootlets on the under side. The odour is heavy and disagreeable, and the taste acrid and bitter. ”