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



(b) The aqueous solution, faintly acidulated, possessed a very 

 bitter taste, and alkaline reaction to litmus. 



(c) Dense precipitates were obtained with all the general 

 alkaloid reagents. 



(e) On applying Vitali's test for atropine, a deep red colour 

 was shown. 



(f ) The solution was brought to 1 in 1000 with normal saline, 

 and one drop of this instilled into the eye of a dog. Almost 

 complete dilatation was produced within 30 minutes. 



The distillate therefore contained atropine, and the results 

 showed that when solutions of atropine are distilled in a current 

 of steam, the alkaloid volatilises. Also, when very dilute solu 

 tions of atropine are evaporated by boiling in an open basin, the 

 alkaloid may be almost entirely lost. 



Application of the results. 



xvii. The Statement. — The foregoing experiments afiord con- 

 clusive evidence that, when leaves of Duhoisia myojjoroides were 

 distilled with alkali in a current of steam^an alkaloid volatilised 

 and was obtained in the distillate. This alkaloid was a minute 

 proportion of the atropine and hyoscyamine, which are known 

 to be present in the leaves, and which have always been assumed 

 to be non-volatile. 



When solutions of pure atropine were distilled in the same 

 apparatus, and under the same conditions, atropine distilled 

 over, and almost at the same rate as from the plant, 1-2 mgs. 

 per hour. 



The Interpretation, -^e are now enabled by these results to 

 interpret some of the contradictory statements of the earlier in- 

 vestigators. D. Hopivoodii, the first to be examined chemically, 

 had yielded nicotine, and from the closely related D. myoporoides 

 an alkaloid was obtained in the same way as nicotine In the 

 extraction of the midriatic alkaloids, even with modern improve- 

 ments, the crude product first obtained is invariably a viscous, 

 oily liquid, or syrupy residue. One must not, however, assume 

 that it contains any of the liquid alkaloids, such as nicotine, 

 since the residue will eventually crystallise when properly puri- 



