Note 141 — PHARMACOLOGIA. ON THE OPERATIONS OF MEDICINAL BODIES, AND ON THE CLASSIFICATIONS FOUNDED ON THEM.

Bitterness in vegetables has been supposed to reside in a peculiar proximate principle, which has been accordingly named the Bitter Principle. Such an opinion, however, does not appear to rest on sufficient evidence; on the contrary, experiment has shewn that it is very generally connected with the extractive matter of the plant, as it is obtained equally by the action of water and alcohol; it is not volatile, nor are its energies impaired by decoction.