BY J. M. PETRIE. 125 



into New South Wales and Queensland: and, on the other side, 

 it extends into Western Australia almost to the centre of that 

 State (J. H. Maiden). 



Critical Review of the Chemistry of the Duboisias. 



xiii. The earlier investigators of the Duboisias were apparently 

 impressed by the very great similarity in the general appearance 

 and morphology of the two species. This is evident in their 

 methods of working? as well as in their manner of writins^: and 

 one sees in their chemical investigations tliat they suspected the 

 poisonous principles, too, would be found similar in nature. 

 Accordingly, we find it stated that Staiger first isolated the two 

 iiokuile alkaloids " piturine and duboisine." An alkaloid was 

 prepared from Z>. myo})oroides by von Mueller and Rummel, in 

 the same way as nicotine from tobacco. It was a volatile, oily, 

 liquid alkaloid, having a strong odour of tobacco, and was con- 

 sidered as probably identical with piturine. Branches of D. 

 myoporoides hung up in a close room produced giddiness and 

 vomiting. Von Mueller and Rummel described the alkaloid 

 obtained by them from Duhoisia Hopivoodii (pituri) under the 

 name " Duboisine " (10). 



On the other hand, the more recent investigations show that 

 D. myoporoides contains only the non-volatile alkaloids of the 

 atropine group. 



One can only conclude from this conflicting evidence regai d- 

 ing the nature of the active principles, that the earlier workers 

 obtained in their researches, certain incomplete results which 

 were wrongly interpreted by them, and that some authors con- 

 fused the two plants, or were unaware of the existence of two 

 Duboisias. 



A few experiments are now described, which were suggested 

 by the above statements, chiefly to decide the question as to 

 whether in D. myoporoides there is present any volatile active 

 principle. 



Experimental. 



xiv. Method : —YTQ^h. plants of D. myoporoides were ("treated 

 in the same way as for the extraction of nicotine from tobacco") 



