CEVADILLA 



189 



CEVADILLA SEEDS 



(Sabadilla Seeds, Semina Cevadillse) 



Source, &c. Cevadilla seeds are the ripe seeds of Schosnocaulon 

 officinale, Asa Gray (N.O. Liliacece), a tall herbaceous plant growing 

 on the lower mountain slopes near the 

 eastern coast of Mexico, in Guatemala, and 

 in Venezuela. At the time of the Spanish 

 conquest the drug was known to the 

 American Indians as a caustic application 

 to wounds ; it came into use in Europe 

 much later as a parasiticide. The seeds are 

 now chiefly used as the source of veratrine. 



The plant produces a tall raceme of 

 yellowish flowers, succeeded by small three- 

 celled capsular fruits ; as the fruit ripens it 

 separates septicidally into three follicles, 

 which dehisce by their ventral sutures. 

 Each follicle contains from one to six seeds. 

 Formerly the dried fruits were imported, 

 but now chiefly the seeds freed from the 

 thin, brown, papery pericarps. 



Description. Cevadilla seeds are long and 

 narrow, glossy dark brown or nearly black 

 and about 6 mm. long, tapering to an acute 

 point. From mutual pressure in the fruits 

 there is usually on one side a longitudinal 

 depression with acute edges ; for a similar 

 reason the seeds are slightly curved ; the 

 surface is finely wrinkled. 



The seeds are inodorous, but have an 

 unpleasant, bitter, and acrid taste ; the 

 powder produces violent sneezing. 



The student should observe 



(a) The dark colour, 



(b) The long narrow shape with acute 



angles, 



(c) The acrid taste. 



FIG. 101. Cevadilla seed. 

 a, flower, magnified. 6, 

 stamen, magnified. c, 

 fruit, magnified, d, e, 

 fruit after dehiscence, 

 natural size. /, g, h, i, 

 seeds, natural size ; k, I, 

 m, enlarged ; n, cut 

 longitudinally. (Luer- 

 ssen.) 



Constituents. The seeds contain several 

 alkaloids of which cevadine, C 32 H 49 N0 9 (also 

 called crystalline veratrine), is the most 



important and the most toxic ; it is easily hydrolysed by alkalies 

 yielding cevine and methylcrotonic acid. Veratridine (also called 



