THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [February 17, 1872. 
G64 
In summing up, lie recommends in order to avoid 
variability in the effects of preparations of aco¬ 
nite—(1) that the Aconitum Napellus should be 
used; (2) that the leaves should be rejected; (3) 
that the root of the wild plant, properly selected, 
should be preferred; (4) that the tincture and alco¬ 
holic extract, which may be accommodated to all 
pharmaceutical forms, should alone be used. 
Selection of the Roots. 
To this point, one to which he attaches great im¬ 
portance, M. Duquesnel devotes the last section of 
his memoir, his object being to indicate a root which 
contains a certain, and nearly constant proportion 
of the active principle. 
The genus Aconitum contains various species that 
are used in medicine, of which the following are the 
principal:— 
1. A.ferox, Wall. It grows principally upon the 
summits of the Himalayas, and furnishes the Indians 
with their celebrated bikli or bish poison. It is the 
most active species of the genus, not because it con¬ 
tains a more energetic principle than aconitine, but 
because it contains a larger proportion. Analysis 
has obtained crystallized aconitine from this root 
with its ordinary form and properties.* 
2. A. Antliora. —Less active than the others. 
3. A. Lycoctonum. —Very active, but little used. 
4. A. Napellus is used in France to the exclusion 
of all others. Climate, culture, age and the mode of 
collection have great influence upon its properties: 
a stony soil, the wild state, and a mountainous 
country are the conditions most favourable to the 
development of its active principle. The aconite 
grown in the south is much more active than that 
grown in the north, where, according to Linmeus, 
the Norwegians and Lapps eat the young shoots with 
impunity. All parts of the plant contain aconitine, 
but the seeds less than the leaves, and the leaves 
less than the roots. By desiccation the leaves appear 
to lose a great portion of their properties; the roots 
preserve them better. 
A careful examination of specimens of dried roots 
of A. Napellus shows that they may be divided into 
three classes:— 
1. Root dry, irregular, horny and yellowish at 
the fracture, resembling much the root of A.ferox ; 
a small portion scraped upon the tongue produces 
the characteristic tingling. It is extremely active, 
containing, consequently, a large proportion of the 
active principle; but it is extremely rare. 
2. Root having the same appearance as the pre¬ 
ceding, but the interior not presenting the same 
horny structure, except at some points of the peri¬ 
pheric layers, the other parts of which are formed 
of a more or less greyish-yellow fibrous substance. 
The centre of the root is occupied by a white amy¬ 
laceous matter, less abundant as the root is more 
active; or completely empty, in consequence of the 
* M. Duquesnel does not appear to liave seen an article 
by Mr. Groves on “Nepaul Aconite” (Phakm. Joukn. 
3rd Ser. Yol. I. p. 433), in which he states that he had extracted 
from the Aconitum ferox the pseudaconitin long since de¬ 
scribed by Von Schroff, its discoverer, and more recently by 
Fliickiger, but whose existence had been generally disputed. 
The roots experimented upon by Mr. Groves contained, in 
one pound, eight grains of pseudaconitin and twenty grains 
of aconitin. The crystallized pseudaconitin was exhibited by 
him before the Pharmaceutical Conference at Liverpool.— 
Ed. Phaeu. Jouen. 
retreat of the central parts caused by the desiccation 
of the peripheral portion. This root is less active 
than the preceding, but a small quantity will pro¬ 
duce characteristic effects. 
3. Root inflated, meriting more than the others 
the name “ napiform,” the surface smooth and 
marked with whitish points, which are the cicatrices 
of the radicals. The exterior lias the same colour 
as the preceding, but the interior consists of a light, 
whitish, amylaceous substance, very different from 
that which constitutes them. Its physiological 
effects are very small. 
Of these three sorts the second should be used. 
It is very energetic and constant, is common in 
certain countries,—the Vosges and Switzerland for 
example,—and in default of the first, which is very 
rare, contains the largest proportion of aconitine. 
The third sort, found principally in cultivated roots, 
.should be absolutely rejected. It contains but slight 
♦traces of aconitine, as may be proved by analysis or 
the absence of the characteristic tingling upon mas¬ 
ticating a small piece. 
THE LOSS OF THE HERBACEOUS 
PARTS OF PLANTS IN DRYING. 
BY JOHN M. MAISCH. 
Few pharmacists have a correct idea about the 
amount of moisture contained in the drugs which 
they are daily handling, and many would smile in¬ 
credulously if informed that some of these drugs, 
which are regarded as “ dr} r ,” still lose from one- 
seventh to one-sixth of their weight if dried in a 
water-bath, and that even many of the powxlers as 
met with in the shops contain from six to ten per 
cent., and sometimes more moisture. Carefully per¬ 
formed experiments with a large number of drugs 
and dry preparations are very much needed ; for it 
is obvious that galenical preparations, and particu¬ 
larly tinctures, syrups, fluid extracts and the like, 
must vary in strength as prepared from anhydrous 
or merely air-dry material, though both may be of 
equal quality when anhydrous. 
The loss in weight of living plants or parts of 
plants, when brought to an air-dry condition, is like¬ 
wise a subject about which little is known, since 
pharmacists usually depend on wholesale dealers for 
their supply of indigenous drugs, though the plants 
may grow abundantly within convenient reach. The 
superior quality, however, of drugs collected and 
cured by the pharmacist, as compared with their 
usual condition in the general market, is often so 
striking, that few who value good and reliable drugs 
would be willing to discontinue such collection and 
curing, after they have once commenced it. 
In collecting the annual supply, it is necessary to 
take into consideration the loss of these medicinal 
herbs, sustained by drying. The following table is 
compiled from observations by me, with plants or 
their parts of my own collection, and I regret that 
other notes of the more important medicinal herbs, 
growing in this locality, are now not at hand. Suffi¬ 
cient care was invariably taken to collect and weigh 
the plants free from external moisture by dew or 
rain; the drying was effected under an airy shed or 
in a room, protected from rain; and the final weight 
was taken when the plants ceased to lose weight in 
I an ordinarily dry atmosphere:— 
