4130-3 
Then two parts by weight of alcohol are taken, the chopped root mixed thoroughly 
with one-sixth part of it, and the rest of the alcohol added. After having stirred 
the whole well, allow it to stand in a well-stoppered bottle for at least eight days 
in a dark, cool place. 
The tincture, separated from this mass by filtration, should have a clear, 
slightly brownish, orange color by transmitted light, an odor like that of an en- 
raged honey bee, a pleasantly bitter taste, and a slightly acid reaction. 
CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS.—Gelsemine,* C,, H,, NO,. This alkaloid, ex- 
tracted from an alcoholic percolate of the powdered root, was determined by 
Kollock (1855).+ Sonnenschein (1876) gave it the formula C,, H,, NO,, but Ger- 
rard (1883)t judges that the alkaloid used by him must have been impure, as his 
careful determinations result in the formula given above. Gelsemine, according 
to Gerrard and others, is a colorless, bitter, odorless, amorphous, brittle, trans- 
parent body, without definite crystals, fusing into such mass at a little below 200° C. 
(392° F.). It is soluble in alcohol, slightly also in boiling water, forms crystalline 
soluble salts with acids, and gives no color reactions with sulphuric or nitric acids. 
Gelsemic Acid.§—C,, H,, O,,.. Sonnenschein (1876) claimed that this body 
was identical with the glucoside escudin,|| but Wormley (1882),§/ after careful 
chemical and physiological analyses, determines that it is similar to, but not iden- 
tical with, that body. According to the latter observer gelsemic acid is readily 
crystallizable into needles, but slightly soluble in water, and soluble in alcohol, 
ether, and chloroform. Kollock** determined, beside gelsemine, a dry and a fatty 
resin, volatile oil, and a yellow coloring matter. 
PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION.—Many cases of poisoning by the inadvertent 
use of this drug are reported, from which, together with the experiments of Worm- 
ley,++ we glean the following rationale of its action: 
The following symptoms are entailed by doses of from one drachm to an 
ounce of the fluid extract: Nausea, with ineffectual attempts to vomit; dimness 
of vision or diplopia, especially on turning the head to one side; congestion of the 
face ; spasms of the larynx and pharynx; restlessness ; great prostration ; feeble, 
irregular, and intermittent pulse ; ; irregular and slow respiration with gasping ; loss 
of muscular power, with incodrdination; extremities at first hot and dry, then cold 
and moist; dilated pupils insensible to light; eyes fixed and protruding; inability — 
to raise the eyelids. Death follows without previous loss of consciousness or 
convulsions. | 
Post-Mortem.—Venous congestion; collapsed lungs that are otherwise 
natural ; the adipose tissue is found suffused with bile; blood dark, grumous, and 
enfibrinated ; the brain and spinal cord are found pale and anemic. By this it 
will be seen that there are no characteristic post-mortem appearances. 
* Gelsemina, gelsemia, gelseminia, ) + Am. Four. Phar., 1855, p. 203. 
{ A. W. Gerrard, Am. Four. Phar., 1883, p.256. % Gelseminic acid. || See sculus Hippocastanum, 43. 
1 T. G. Worley, Am, “tase Phar., 1882, p. 357. ** Ibid. tt Am. — rea ~_ ee 
