APPENDIX, 183 
As to the distribution of the alkaloid in the plant, and the com- 
parative strength of the seeds and the leaves, very little reliable 
information is obtainable. 
Hurtz and Hopp (Annal der Therap., 1862, p. 22) inferred, from 
experiments made by them, that an extract from the seeds possessed 
five times the physiological activity of an extract from the leaves, 
Evidence of this kind is, however, of very little value unless the pro- 
portionate amount of extract obtained from the seeds and the leaves 
is stated, as the yield varies within wide limits, The alkaloidal 
content of the seeds is given in Pharmacographia as ‘1 per cent. and 
that of the leaves as *02 to ‘03 per cent. 
‘Hurtz (Druggists’ Circular, Aug., 1884) reports having obtained 
a yield of daturine from the seeds of +167 per cent. 
K. Schmidt (Year-book of Pharmacy, 1885, p, 242) obtained 
from 5 kilos of each of four specimens of seeds, i2°5, 18-4, 2°6, and 
10°2 grams alkaloid, equivalent to a percentage yield of °25, ‘37 
*Q5, and °20 respectively. 
A. B. Lyons (Manual of Practical Assaying), estimating the 
alkaloid by titration with Mayer’s solution, found the average yield 
of alkaloid by five specimens of the seeds to be from *45 to °55 per 
cent,, and that from eight specimens of the leaves to be °40 to 25 
per cent. 
If these results could be trusted, they would appear to indicate 
that the percentage of alkaloid in the seeds and leaves is practically 
the same, but the process of estimation by titration with Mayer’s 
solution almost invariably gives results which are too high, and a 
systematic examination of a number of samples of the seeds and 
leaves, with a view of ascertaining their relative alkaloidal strength, 
is still needed, 
For the purpose of our experiments, eleven specimens of stramonium 
seeds were obtained, and a series of tinctures made from each, by the 
B. P. ‘process, with menstrua of 80, 70, 60, 50, and 40 per cent. 
strength (by volume), It was remarked that all the tinctures became 
opalescent when kept, and all threw down a more or less abundant 
deposit. The latter varied greatly in appearance, that from the 80 
and 70 per cent, tinctures apparently consisting of fatty matter ina 
semi-transparent crystalline condition, while the deposit from the 
tinctures of lower alcoholic strength was darker in colour and 
to partake more of a resinous character. . oe 
