CORMUS COLCHICI. 699 



Again, in 1834, Conerbe described an alkaloid from cebadilla under 

 the name of Sabadilline, and Weigelin (1871) another called Sabatrine. 



From the investigations of Wright and LufF (1878) it appeare that 

 the above-mentioned statements must be resumed thus : — There are in 

 cebadilla three alkaloids, nameiv Veratrhie, C^^H^^NO^^ Cevadine, 

 (ymio^Q9^ and Gevadilline, C3*H%0«, the second only being crystal- 

 lizable. 



Veratrin may be decomposed by means of caustic lye into a new 



alkaloid, verine, and dimethyl-protocatechuic acid, C^H^ -J qqqjj • 



By the same treatment, cevadine yields an acid which appears to be 

 identical with tigUnic acid (page oiiQ), and an alkaloid called cevine. 



Cebadilla yielded to Pelletier and Caventou a volatile fatty acid, 

 Sabculillic or Cevadic Acid, the needle-shaped crystals of which fuse at 

 20° C. Lastly, E. Merck (1839) found a second peculiar acid termed 

 Veratric Acid, affording quadrangular prisms, which can be sublimed 

 without decomposition. It is yielded by cebadilla to the extent of but 

 ^ per mille. It has been shown in 1876 by Korner to be identical with 

 dimethyl-protocatechuic acid just mentioned (see also our article 

 Tuhera Acoiiiti, p. 9). 



Commerce — The quantity of cebadilla (seeds only) shipped in 1876 

 from La Guaira, the port of Caracas, was 35,033 kilos., of which 25,966 

 went to Germany. No other sort is now imported. 



Uses — Cebadilla is at present, we believe, only used as the source 

 of veratrine. In Mexico, the bulb of the plant is employed as an 

 anthelminthic, under the name of Gebolleja, but it is said to be very 

 dansrerous in its action. 



CORMUS COLCHICI. 



Tuber vd Bulbus vel Radix Colchici; Meadovj Saffron Root; F. Bulbe 

 de Colchique ; G. Zeitlosenknollen. 



Botanical Origin — ColcJdcum autummale L. — This plant grows in 

 meadows and pastures over the greater part of Northern Africa, Middle 

 and Southern Europe, and is plentiful in many localities in England 

 and Ireland. In the Swiss Alps, it ascends to an elevation of 5500 feet 

 above the sea level. 



History — Dioscorides drew attention to the poisonous properties 

 of KoXxiKov, which he stated to be a plant growing in Messenia and 

 Colchis.^ 



This character for deleterious qualities seems to have prevented the 

 use of colchicum both in classical and mediaeval times. Thus Tragus 

 (1552) warns his readers against its use in gout, for which it is recom- 

 mended in the writings of the Arabians. Jacques Grevin, a physician 

 of Paris, author of Dewx Liires des Venins, dedicated to Queen Eliza- 

 beth of England, and printed at Antwerp in 1568, observes — "ce poison 

 est ennemy de la nature de I'homme en tout et par tout." Dodoens 



1 His description is exact, except that he which seems not true for Colchicum autum- 

 declares the corm to have a sioeet taste, nale, but may be so for some other species. 



