124 SOME POISONOUS PLANTS IN N.O. SOLANACEiE, iv., 



plant. He found, by Gerrard's colour-test with mercuric 

 chloride solution, that hyoscyaniine alone ^vas present in old 

 leaves and twigs, but that the fresh young leaves contained 

 mostly scopolamine. 



From this period, the chemistry of J)uboisia was neglected for 

 seventeen years, till, in 1912, the Wellcome Research laborato- 

 ries received a large supply of the plant from the Philippine 

 Islands. Carr and Reynolds (50) obtained from this material 

 1'1% of hyoscyamine and 0*15% of pseudo-hyoscyamine. The 

 latter alkaloid was found by them to possess the constitution of 

 nor-hyoscyamine, but they detected no scopolamine in this 

 material. 



DUBOISIA HOPWOODII F.v.M. 



xii. The poisonous principle of the "pituri" plant was studied 

 by medical specialists in Great Britain in 1878, and the chemist 

 Gerrard(7) found an alkaloid present whicli he named "piturine." 

 In 1879, Petit, of Paris (ll), showed that the alkaloid was 

 nicotine. In 1880, Professor Liversidge revised the analytical 

 work, and obtained a formula for the alkaloid, of lower molecular 

 weight than nicotine: the difference lay in the determination of 

 the nitrogen. It stood thus doubtfully as a new alkaloid under 

 the name of "piturine '' for thirty years. Petit's results were 

 recently confirmed by the late Dr. Rothera, of Melbourne (15), 

 and the base has been shown to be identical with nicotine in its 

 chemical, physical, and pharmacological properties. Hartwich(14) 

 in 1910, and Senft (16) in 1911, wrote good descriptive accounts 

 of the plant, including the histology of the leaves and stems, and 

 showing a number of sections. Hartwich compares the histology 

 of the two species. In both accounts, the chemical data shoAv 

 all the positive reactions of nicotine, although the alkaloid is 

 referred to as " piturin." Senft obtained his pituri and in- 

 formation from two Austrian scientists, Domin and Danes, who 

 visited Australia in 1910. All these were unacquainted with 

 Rothera's results. This plant is a shrub or small tree growing 

 to an average height of about eight feet. It is found only in 

 the interior of the continent; it crosses the border on the east 



