which have been discovered in vegetables ; and the 
skill of the chemist is daily bringing to light others, 
of which no conception had till lately been formed. 
The first vegetable alkaloid was discovered by a 
German, in 1803, being that from opium called 
morphia — a valuable addition to our Pharmaco- 
poeia. For fifteen years the discovery met but 
little attention, till other concentrated alkaline 
substances were prepared ; as quinine, from Peru- 
vian bark; Atropin, from Atropa belladonna (No. 
105) ; Aconitin, from the Aconitum napellus 
(No. 210) ; and many others, some of which are 
esteemed as valuable remedies. 
It is not wholly unimportant that every person 
moving in a respectable sphere of society should 
possess some knowledge of the objects with which he 
is frequently brought in contact. Ignorance now-a- 
days is far less excusable than formerly. Therefore 
that our young readers may not be quite uninformed 
regarding the means employed by the chemist for 
the concentration of the active ingredients which are 
contained in vegetables, we will give Berzelius’s 
method of obtaining delphinia. Digest the seeds 
of Stavesacre in water acidulated with sulphuric 
acid. Precipitate the acid liquid by an alkali, or 
by magnesia. Wash and dry the precipitate, and 
digest it in boiling alcohol, which will dissolve the 
delphinia. Treat the solution with ivory black, 
. filter and precipitate the delphinia by ammonia. 
It has then the form of a jelly. Being dissolved 
in alcohol, and obtained by evaporation, it assumes 
the form of a crystalline powder, which becomes 
opaque when dried. 
Don’s Syst. Bot. 1, 54. 
