CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 243 



RESEARCHES ON ACONITE. 



Recent elaborate researches on the properties of aconite, the most 

 potent perhaps of all poisons, conducted by Messrs. S. & H. Smith, of 

 Edinburgh, and published in the London Pharmaceutical Journal, have 

 established the fact that the maximum quantity of the alkaloid, which 

 it is possible to extract from a hundred weight of the fresh aconite- 

 root, cannot exceed one ounce. Consequently, the maximum quantity 

 of the alkaloid contained in an ounce of the tincture, as ordinarily pre- 

 pared and sold, cannot exceed the '105 of a grain, and is probably 

 much less. M. Hertz, Professor of the Medical Faculty at Strasbourg, 

 in an article on the subject of aconite contributed to the " Nouveau 

 JJictionnaire de Medecinc et de Chirugie Practigues" Paris, 1864, a 

 work published by a committee of the leading French chemists and 

 physicians, gives the following as a summary of our present chemical 

 knowledge. He says, " the chemical reactions of aconitine are not 

 yet sufficiently known to enable us to isolate it from the substance or 

 products of the body after death." 



This resume of the latest information respecting this subtile 

 poison, will be noticed with interest by many of our readers, by reason 

 of its bearing on the celebrated case of John Hendrickson, who was 

 tried and convicted in Albany, N. Y. in 1854, on the charge of 

 poisoning his wife by aconite, and subsequently (in spite of the 

 earnest remonstrances of nearly all the leading American chemists) 

 executed. The theory of the prosecution was, that an ounce of the 

 tincture of aconite was forcibly administered during sleep ; the major 

 part of which the deceased subsequently ejected from the stomach by 

 vomiting. Then from a portion only of the fluids and tissues of the 

 stomach, by means of a radically incorrect chemical treatment, it was 

 sworn upon the trial, that about -^ of a grain of the pure alkaloid 

 was separated and extracted. And on this, and concurring medical 

 testimony, the life of the accused was declared forfeited and taken. 



The recent information relative to aconite, quoted above, fully con- 

 firms the views of the chemists who protested in 1854 against the con- 

 clusions of the jury, and further stamp this trial as one of the most 

 disgraceful ever recorded in the history of American jurisprudence. 



SUMMARY OF CHEMICAL NOVELTIES. 



New Use for Gelatin. Beautiful fancy ornaments have recently 

 been introduced in Paris by M. Pinson, called artificial tortoise-shell, 

 which he obtains by melting, at a moderate temperature, gelatin with 

 a small amount of metallic salts, running the whole into molds, stain- 

 ing the mass with hydro-sulphate of ammonia, so as to produce an 

 imitation of the grain of tortoise-shell. The objects so produced are 

 then polished and ready for sale. 



Cotton-seed Oil. With the more extensive cultivation of cotton in 

 European colonial possessions, renewed attention has been given to the 

 subject of the oil yielded by the cotton-seed. Recent investigations 

 show, that an oil may be obtained to the amount of from 15 to 18 per 

 cent from cotton-seei, which is very much cheaper than linseed. The 

 residue is nearly as valuable lor fattening purposes as linseed cake. 



