Paper electrophoresis was carried out with the extract of the root of Indian snakewood (Rauwolfia serpentina BENTH.) with N acetic acid and 0.1N citric acid as the electrolytic solution. And nine kinds of alkaloid, serpentinine, ajmaline, yohimbine (?), sarpagine, ajmalicine, serpentine, reserpinine, reserpine, and rescinnamine, were isolated. The same extract was submitted to multi-buffered paper chromatography, using filter papers impregnated in equidistances with citrate buffers of pH 6.4, 6.1, 5.8, 5.5, 5.2, 4.9, 4.6, 4.3, 4.0, 3.0, and 2.1 in that order and using chloroform-benzene (1: 2) mixture as the developing solvent. In this case, eight spots of alkaloids were obtained, reserpine at pH 3.0, ajmalicine at pH 4.0, rescinnamine at 4.3-4.6, reserpine at 4.6, yohimbine at 5.5, methyl reserpate (?) at 6.1, ajmaline at 6.1-6.4, and serpentinine at 6.4-0, while serpentine and sarpagine remained in the original spot.