4 DELPHINIUM STAPHISAGBIA 



States ; but they were formerly official in the London and 

 Edinburgh Pharmacopoeias. 



General Characters and Composition. Stavesacre seeds are 

 imported from Nismes and other parts of the South of France, 

 and also from Trieste. In form they are irregularly triangular 

 or obscurely quadrangular, distinctly arched on one side, and in 

 weight each averages a little over half a grain. The testa is of 

 a blackish-brown colour when the seeds are freshly dried, but 

 it becomes dull greyish-brown when they have been long kept ; 

 its surface is wrinkled and deeply pitted. When the somewhat 

 brittle testa is removed the nucleus is found to be soft, whitish, 

 and of an oily nature. Stavesacre seeds have no very marked 

 odour, but a bitter nauseous taste, which is followed after they are 

 chewed by a burning and tingling sensation. 



The seeds are said to contain no less than three alkaloids, 

 delphinia, staphisaine, and staphisagrine ; also a crystalline 

 acid termed delphinic acid ; a fatty oil in the proportion of about 

 26 per cent, and belonging to the non-drying class of oils ; and 

 other substances of no importance. But little is known o the 

 properties of staphisaine and staphisagrine j but staphisaine is 

 readily distinguished from delphinia by its insolubility in ether. 

 The activity of Stavesacre seeds would appear to be essentially 

 due to delphinia. This alkaloid, which is also termed delphinine, 

 and delphine, as usually found in commerce, is in very minute 

 rhombohedric crystals, but larger crystals may be obtained ; it 

 freezes at 248, and is soluble in ether, alcohol, and chloroform, 

 but almost insoluble in water. Of delphinic acid nothing definite 

 is known, but Hofschlager, its discoverer, described it as white, 

 crystalline, volatile, and in small doses as a powerful emetic. 



Medical Properties and Uses. Stavesacre seeds possess emetic, 

 purgative, and anthelmintic properties, and were formerly 

 employed internally to produce such effects ; but on account of 

 their violent action they are no longer used. It would 

 appear also that they have narcotic properties ; indeed, they are 

 used in some parts of the world to intoxicate fish in the same 

 manner as Cocculus indicus. The powdered seeds have been used 



