622 BOTANY AND PHARMACOGNOSY. 



mine), atropine, formed from hyoscyamine, and belladonnine, 

 formed from atropine ; a fluorescent principle /S-methyl-aesculetin 

 (atrosin or chrysatropic acid), which resembles a similar principle 

 found in gelsemium ; malic acid, and calcium oxalate in the form 

 of cryptocrystalline crystals (Fig. 287, C). 



Atropine is a pov/erful mydriatic alkaloid which occurs in 

 colorless or white acicular crystals that are soluble in alcohol 

 but sparingly soluble in water. It is optically inactive and may 

 be sublimed without decomposition. The aqueous solutions are. 

 however, easily decomposed, acquiring a yellow color and a dis- 

 agreeable odor. On treating atropine with a few drops of nitric 

 acid, evaporating to dryness and then adding a few drops of an 

 alcoholic solution of potassium hydrate to the residue a violet 

 color is produced, which rapidly changes to red. On hydrolysis 

 atropine yields tropin and tropic acid. Upon heating atropine 

 with nitric acid so as to cause the los^ of a molecule of water 

 the alkaloid apoatropine (atropamirie or anhydro-atropine) is 

 formed, which has been isolated from belladonna root and which 

 does not possess any mydriatic properties. On heating apoatropine 

 with hydrochloric acid or upon simply heating it for some time 

 alone the base belladonnine (oxyatropine) is formed. 



The amount of alkaloids varies in different parts of the plant 

 and has been given as follows : Roots, 0.06 per cent. ; stems, 0.04 

 per cent. ; leaves, 0.2 per cent. ; unripe berries, cig-per cent. ; ripe 

 berries, 0.21 per cent., and seeds, 0.33 per cent. 



STRAMONIUM.— STRAMONIUM LEAVES.— The leaves 

 and flowering tops of Datura Stramonium (Fam. Solan- 

 acese), an annual herb (Fig. 269) probably indigenous to the 

 region of the Caspian Sea, naturalized in waste places in Europe 

 and North America, and cultivated in France, Germany and Hun- 

 gary (p. 372). The leaves and tops are collected when the plant 

 is in flower, and are carefully dried and preserved, the chief of 

 the commercial supply being obtained from cultivated plants. 



Description. — Usually in irregular, matted fragments. Stem 

 cylindrical, flattened, longitudinally furrowed and wrinkled, 2 to 



5 mm. in diameter; internodes 1.5 to 2 cm. long. Leaves ovate, 



6 to 20 cm. long, 2 to 12 cm. broad; apex acuminate; base 

 unequal, one side extending 3 to 12 mm. below the other; margin 



