262 BACTERIAL POISONS. 



Thus, it forms simple as well as double salts. On boiling 

 with copper acetate, it gives amorphous floccules. Under 

 the desiccator it solidifies into plates which deliquesce on 

 exposure to the air. It does not combine either with silver 

 oxide or with cupric hydrate. On dry distillation it yields 

 a distillate possessing a strong acid reaction and a peculiar 

 odor. Tiie distillate does not give any precipitate with 

 platinum chloride, or with gold chloride, nor does it react 

 with copper acetate. With phosphomolybdic acid, how- 

 ever, it forms an amorphous mass ; with ferric chloride and 

 potassium ferricyanide it yields an immediate precipitate of 

 Berlin-blue, whereas the original substance does not give 

 any blue coloration. 



The Hydrochloride, CyHijNOa.HCl, crystallizes in 

 fine needles which are insoluble in absolute alcohol. When 

 its aqueous solution is treated with freshly precipitated 

 .silver oxide, the resulting filtrate contains some silver oxide 

 in solution, from which it can be removed by hydrogen 

 sulphide; thus differing from an ammoniacal silver solu- 

 tion, which gives no precipitate on treatment with hydrogen 

 sulphide. In this respect it resembles Salkowski's base, 

 page 231. For i-eactions of the hydrochloride, see Table I. 



The AuEOCHLORiDB, CjHiyNOj.HCl.AuClj, forms 

 plates which are difficultly soluble in water, and melt at 

 176° — the melting point of the gold salt of typhotoxiue. 

 It is dimorphous, since sometimes it is also obtained in 

 needles which can be changed into plates. 



It does not form a picrate, nor does it give a reaction 

 with sulpho-diazobenzole. 



Physiological Action. — This substance, when injected 

 into frogs, produces a curara-like action. A few minutes 

 after the injection the animal falls into a condition of 

 paralysis, and, although it can still react toward reflexes, it 

 cannot move from its place. At times fibrillary twitchings 

 pass over the body. The pupils dilate, the heart-action 

 becomes gradually weaker, and finally, after several hours 

 the animal dies, with the heart in diastole. D.oses of 0.05 to 

 0.3 granime of the hydrochloride, injected into guinea-pigs, 

 produce in a short time a slight tremor, gradual increase in 



