THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[February 3, 1872. 
G2 4 
tliat the solutions he perfectly neutral, an excess of 
acid generally preventing the crystallization. The 
following are the principal mentioned by the author, 
with the methods of preparation:— 
Sulphate of Aconitine. —Saturate dilute sulphuric 
acid with an excess of aconitine, slightly warming 
the mixture until the saturation is complete; filter 
the solution warm, and evaporate at a very gentle 
heat. A semi-vitreous mass is thus obtained, appear¬ 
ing under the microscope onty as a confused crystal¬ 
lization of the sulphate in very slender needles. This 
salt is not deliquescent. 
Hi/drochlorate of Aconitine. —By a similar process 
to the above this salt may be obtained in rhombic 
crystals, the size and regularity of which are in¬ 
creased by the slowness of the evaporation. 
Nitrate of Aconitine — Obtained in a similar man¬ 
ner to the two preceding, by saturating completely 
dilute nitric acid with crystallized aconitine, and 
evaporating the solution at a gentle heat. It forms 
fine rhombic or short prismatic crystals, colourless 
and transparent, but slightly efflorescent, and be¬ 
coming vividly coloured in a ray of polarized light. 
This salt, less soluble in water than the preceding, 
gives a solution perfectly neutral to test paper, whicii 
is suitable for hypodermic injections. The author 
prefers it to all the others for medicinal use, as it 
crystallizes with great facility in well-defined ciys- 
tals, keeps without alteration, and can be purified 
by successive crystallizations and decoloration by 
animal charcoal without losing its properties.* 
A more direct simple method is to stir the ethereal 
solution of the extract from the root with a glass rod 
that has been dipped in nitric acid. Upon each im¬ 
mersion of the rod charged with acid a white cloud 
of nitrate of aconitine insoluble in ether is formed 
until the whole of the aconitine is transformed into 
nitrate. After a few minutes it is deposited upon 
the sides and bottom of the vessel. It is colourless 
neutral, and always crystalline, the crystals being 
generally microscopic. The author states that he 
lias not been able to obtain similar results with 
other substances called aconitine, as they only yielded 
amorphous nitrates. 
Aconitate of Aconitine. —When aconitine is dis¬ 
solved in aconitic acid,—the acid which is present 
in the root,—a salt is obtained which crystallizes 
with difficulty even when the acid is exactly satu¬ 
rated, has a gummous appearance and is non- 
deliquescent in excess of acid. If the acid aconitate 
of aconitiile, and a fortiori, the neutral aconitate, be 
agitated with chloroform or ether, the chloroform, 
which does not appreciably dissolve aconitic acid, dis¬ 
solves the aconitate with facility; while ether, in 
which the acid is soluble, partly precipitates the aco¬ 
nitine from its solution in chloroform. M. Duquesnel 
therefore thinks it cannot at present be decided, 
whether the aconitine exists in the aconite in a free 
state, since chloroform and ether, which in general 
dissolve only the alkaloids, carry off from the aconite 
* Mr. Groves says (Phaem. Jourx. 2nd Ser. Yol. YIII. 
p. 122) of the partly crystalline, partly amorphous aconitine ob¬ 
tained by his process, when treated with nitric acid, “I find it 
crystallize much more easily as nitrate than as sulphate or 
hydrochlorate.” Also, “From its solution in hot water it 
[the nitrate] crystallizes with unusual facility.” Professor 
Fliickiger, too, says (Pharm. Jourx. 3rd Ser. Yol. I. p. 122), 
“ The nitrate can be obtained in well-developed microscopic 
crystals.” 
root its alkaloid, as well as the combination which 
probably it forms in the plant with aconitic acid. 
Action of Iodine upon Aconitine. —When a small 
quantity of tincture of iodine is added to an alcoholic 
solution of crystallized aconitine, the liquid acquires 
a greenish colour. If water be added, it becomes 
milky, and deposits crystals. If the whole be shaken 
with ether, the milky solution clears and settles into 
two distinct layers : the one ethereal, which, upon 
evaporation, deposits, in the ordinary form, the aco¬ 
nitine that was in excess ; the other aqueous, which, 
by careful evaporation, yields short prismatic crystals, 
grouped in fascicles, terminated by dihedrous sum¬ 
mits, and becoming vividly coloured in polarized 
light. 
Whether these crystals, containing iodine, are the 
iodide of a new base, resulting from a change in the 
aconitine, analogous to the bromo-codeine, or whether 
it is a simple iodide of aconitine, the author leaves 
for future analysis to decide. If an excess of tinc¬ 
ture of iodine be added to the alcoholic solution, 
instead of the crystals, a brown matter insoluble’in 
ether is obtained, which probably is a biniodide. 
Action of Bromine upon Aconitine. —Analogous 
results are obtained when bromine, in the shape of 
bromine-water, is used in the place of the tincture 
of iodine, the aqueous solution yielding, upon evapo¬ 
ration, rhombic crystals of bromide of aconitine, or 
one of its derivatives, of which the nature must be 
determined by analysis. When the bromine is in 
excess, crystals are obtained as elongated prisms 
with dihedrous summits. 
Comparative Examination of Different Aconitines. 
The author next describes the results of an in¬ 
vestigation of the physiological effects of various 
substances known under the name of aconitine, or 
extracts of aconite, with a view to ascertain to what 
extent the crystallized aconitine represents the active 
principle of the root. 
For this purpose he experimented with (1) the 
aconitine of the Codex, prepared by M. Hottot; 
(2) German aconitine (Merck's); (3) amorphous 
French commercial aconitine; (4) napelline, pre¬ 
pared by M. Hubsclimann. Not being able to obtain 
a specimen of Morson’s napelline, it was estimated 
according to a report on its properties by M. Hottot. 
The ffrst experiment consisted in the subcutaneous 
injection into an adult sparrow of half a milligram 
of each substance dissolved in two drops of slightly 
acidulated water. With the crystallized aconitine 
death followed in one minute; with the aconitine of 
the Codex, in fifteen minutes; with the German 
aconitine, in an hour and a quarter; with the French 
aconitine of commerce, in two hours. Heath did not 
follow the injection of Hubschmann’s napelline, but 
only a profound slumber. 
In the second experiment, the same quantity was 
injected, in the usual manner, into an adult sparrow, 
death resulting from the use of the crystallized 
aconitine in half a minute, from the aconitine of the 
Codex in four minutes, from the German aconitine 
in three-quarters of an hour, and from the French 
aconitine of commerce in an hour and a quarter. 
Hubschmann’s napelline did not cause death, but 
only a profound slumber. 
It would appear from these experiments, repeated 
many times under varying conditions of temperature 
and season, that the crystallized aconitine represents 
