164 DRS CRUM BROWN AND FRASER ON THE CONNECTION BETWEEN 



BEUCIA. 



Brucia is a poisonous alkaloid derived from some plants belonging to the 

 genus Strychnos. It possesses a physiological action exactly similar in character 

 to that of strychnia, but less in degree. 



Iodide of methyl-brucium (C 23 H 26 N 2 4 CH 3 I + 8H 2 0).— Brucia (C 23 H 26 N 2 4 + 

 4H..O) is, like strychnia, a mono-acid nitrile base : here also the structure of the 

 group (C 23 H 1G N0 4 )"' is unknown, but the action of nitric acid on brucia renders it 



® 

 probable that it contains the radical — 0-©-©- The ethyl-brucium compounds 



© 

 were discovered and described by Gunning * and the methyl-brucium compounds 

 by Stahlschmidt.j We prepared the iodide of methyl-brucium by adding 

 excess of iodide of methyl to a saturated solution of brucia in rectified spirit, 

 allowing the mixture to stand for some hours, evaporating, and recrystallising 

 from hot water. 



It forms thin white scales, and dissolves in 79 parts of water at 37°C, and 

 in 225 parts of water at 9 C C. Its taste resembles that of the corresponding 

 strychnia compound. 



When administered by subcutaneous injection, iodide of methyl-brucium was 

 reduced to the form of a very fine powder, and suspended and dissolved in 

 warm distilled water. In a series of experiments, it was found that as much 

 as twelve grains could be thus given to a rabbit without any effect, that 

 fifteen grains produced marked symptoms, and that eighteen grains was about 

 the minimum fatal dose. Its method of action is well shown in the following 

 experiment. 



Experiment XL. — We injected seven and a-half grains of iodide of methyl- 

 brucium, suspended and dissolved in warm distilled water, into each of two 

 cavities (fifteen grains in all) previously formed in the subcutaneous cellular 

 tissue over the abdomen of a rabbit, weighing four pounds. This did not pro- 

 duce the slightest effect until two hours and forty-three minutes after the 

 administration, when the rabbit's movements became sluggish. Shortly after, a 

 difficulty was observed in standing, and this posture soon become impossible on 

 account of the increasing feebleness of the limbs. In three hours and three 

 minutes, the rabbit subsided on the abdomen and chest, with the lower jaw rest- 

 ing on the table. The condition was one of perfect quietness, there being no 

 twitches ; and, though frequently tested, the reflex excitability appeared normal. 



* Journal fur praktische Chemie, vol. lxvii. p. 46. 

 f Poggendorff's Annalen, vol. cviii. p. 535 (1859). 



