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ON ELATERIUM; AND A NEW PRINCIPLE OBTAINED 

 FROM IT BY ANALYSIS. 



BY HENRY HENNELL, F.R.S., M.R.I. 



Chemical Operator, Apothecaries' Hall. 



A FEW weeks since, at a meeting of the members of the Royal 

 Institution, Mr. Brande mentioned a crystalline vegetable 

 principle, which I had recently obtained from elaterium, and 

 which it was supposed might prove to be the active principle 

 of that drug. From experiments since made, I am induced to 

 believe that not to be the case ; but as the substance itself has 

 not hitherto been described, and as, in the analysis of elaterium 

 which the discovery of this substance led to, results have been ob- 

 tained, differing from previously published accounts, a statement 

 of that analysis may perhaps be interesting to medical readers. 

 Elaterium is procured from the wild cucumber, by slicing 

 and gently pressing the ripe fruit ; a juice is obtained, which 

 in a few minutes deposits a greenish-grey fecula, which, when 

 carefully dried, is light and pulverulent. 



A tincture made by digesting this substance in alcohol, ex- 

 hibited, after spontaneous evaporation, evident appearances of 

 crytallization : this induced me to enter into a more careful 

 examination of elaterium. One hundred grains of good ela- 

 terium were digested in repeated portions of alcohol, of specific 

 gravity of 0.820, until it ceased to give out colour or taste. 

 The tinctures were mixed, and, after distilling off the greater 

 part of the alcohol, the remainder was left to evaporate spon- 

 taneously. Crystals were obtained, mixed with a quantity of 

 green coloured matter ; this latter, I found, might be readily 

 removed by sulphuric ether, in which it quickly dissolves, while 

 the crystals are very sparingly soluble in that fluid. The whole 

 mass was washed with two ounces of sulphuric ether (specific 

 gravity 0.750), in three portions, which removed the colouring 

 matter, leaving numerous white distinct crystals. These were 

 dried at a temperature of 212, and weighed forty grains. The 

 etherial solution was evaporated by a gentle heat ; for I had 

 found, by a previous experiment, that the temperature of 212, 

 if continued for any length of time, destroyed the beautiful 

 green colour which characterizes the substance dissolved by 



