ALKALOID FROM RICINUS COMMUNIS. 
35 
*\vell understood and exclusively used by all scientific writers throughout the 
world. 
Nearly half a century ago, Mr. Howard withdrew from all active participa¬ 
tion in commercial pursuits, and gradually also from scientific investigation, and 
devoted his time to various religious, philanthropic, and literary pursuits. He 
inherited a fortune which enabled him to do this without anxiety, and a happy 
Christian old age closed his peaceful career. 
Amongst his published works are—‘The Yorkshireman,’ ‘Notes on the 
Odyssey,’ ‘ The Climate of London,’ ‘Notes on the Modifications of the Clouds,’ 
‘ The Barometrographia,’ and ‘ Lectures on Meteorology.’ 
NOTE ON AN ALKALOID OBTAINED FROM THE SEEDS OF RICINUS 
COMMUNIS, OR CASTOR-OIL PLANT. 
BY PROFESSOR TUSON. 
It is well known that certain parts of several plants belonging to the Natural Order 
Euphorbiacece , as well as various pharmaceutical preparations obtained therefrom, have 
been long employed in medicine as remedial agents ; and that, notwithstanding this 
circumstance, our knowledge respecting the chemical constitution and physiological ac¬ 
tion of the active principles residing in such bodies is even at the present day in an 
exceedingly unsatisfactory state. 
For a considerable period I have devoted much of the time which I could snatch from 
that occupied in my regular professional pursuits to attempts at isolating the active 
constituents of the seeds and oils of castor and croton, of gum eupliorbium, and of cas- 
carilla bark, i. e. the bark of Croton eleuteria or of Croton cascarilla. Now although, as 
yet, I have not succeeded in accomplishing the particular object which I had in view 
when I commenced my experiments, I have nevertheless discovered several substances 
possessing chemical if not therapeutic interest, and it is one of these proximate principles 
which I have separated from the seeds and oil of Ricinus communis that I wish to partly 
describe in this communication. The compound to which I refer is an alkaloid, and I 
have provisionally named it ricinine. 
Preparation of ricinine. —Crushed castor-oil seeds are exhausted by successive quan¬ 
tities of boiling water, and the matters soluble in water separated from the oil and other 
insoluble materials by filtration through wet calico. The filtered liquid thus obtained is 
then evaporated to dryness over a w r ater-bath, and the extract produced is treated with 
boiling alcohol so long as it exerts any solvent power. The alcoholic solutions are 
allowed to cool, when a small amount of a resinoid body precipitates. This is separated 
by filtration, and the filtered liquid is concentrated to a small bulk and allowed to stand 
all night. The next morning a mass of almost white crystals are found to have deposited 
from the alcoholic solution. These crystals are the new alkaloid, ricinine. It may be 
obtained perfectly pure by recrystallization out of alcohol and decolorizing by animal 
charcoal. 
Properties of ricinine. —Ricinine crystallizes in rectangular prisms and tables. - When 
placed on the tongue, it slowly manifests a feebly bitter taste, resembling somewhat 
that of .bitter almonds. Cautiously treated on a microscope slide, ricinine melts and 
forms a perfectly colourless and mobile fluid, which on cooling solidifies into a whorl 
of acicular crystals. Heated between two watch-glasses, a sublimate is obtained, which 
appears to be unaltered ricinine. Strongly heated on platinum foil, ricinine first melts 
and subsequently burns with a highly luminous and fuliginous flame. 
The best solvents for ricinine are water and alcohol; benzol and ether dissolve but a- 
small quantity of the alkaloid. Heated with solid hydrate of potash it evolves am- - 
monia, thus demonstrating the presence of nitrogen. 
Concentrated sulphuric acid dissolves the alkaloid without colouring it, and the addi¬ 
tion of bichromate of potash simply causes the development of a green colour. 
Iodic acid is not deoxidized by ricinine, even when these substances are warmed to¬ 
gether. 
Concentrated nitric acid dissolves ricinine without evolving red vapours, although 
heat be applied. On evaporating the solution thus produced to a small volume and al- 
