432 
NOTES ON CONESSINE, Oil WRIGHTINE. 
the chair, the several clauses of the Pharmacy Bill were read and discussed, when it was 
unanimously resolved, upon the motion of Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Johns, — 44 That 
this meeting, having discussed the various clauses of the Pharmacy Bill, heartily approves 
of the same, and urges upon the Council to take such steps as shall secure its being 
passed into a law.” 
A vote of thanks to the Chairman concluded the meeting. 
Edward Palk, Local Secretary. 
January 21, 1865. 
My dear Sir,—I hasten to send yon the result of our meeting, held last 
evening, at which there was a very full discussion of the clauses of the Bill, 
and every clause received the unanimous approval of the meeting, except the 
first, and that was carried with only one dissentient. The whole body of che¬ 
mists and druggists are much indebted to the Pharmaceutical Council for their 
indefatigable and untiring exertions to improve the character and raise the 
standard of those carrying on business under that designation, and I trust they 
will be rewarded by a successful issue to their exertions by securing the passing 
of this Bill through the Legislature. I will get the signatures to President and 
Council, and send off to-night. 
I am, my dear Sir, yours truly, 
Edward Palic, Local Secretary . 
Mr. Bremridge, 17, Bloomsbury Square. 
ORIGINAL AND EXTRACTED ARTICLES. 
NOTES ON CONESSINE, ALIAS WRIGHTINE. 
BY R. HAINES, M.B., 
PROFESSOR OF MATERIA MEDICA, GRANT COLLEGE, BOMBAY. 
I observe in the last volume of the 4 Pharmaceutical Journal,’ at page 493, a 
paper by Dr. Stenhouse on a new alkaloid, Wrightine , discovered in the seeds 
of the Wrightia antidysenterica. The following extract will show that the ob¬ 
servation is not so new as it has been supposed, though the small circulation of 
the publication from which the extract is taken, and the brevity of the notice 
itself, render this a matter of very little surprise:— 
“ Dr. Haines read a short paper on a new vegetable alkaloid, extracted from 
the bark of the Wrightia antidysenterica , the 4 Kliooda ’ of the bazars. The 
alkaloid is resinous and uncrystallizable, of a powerfully bitter and somewhat 
acrid taste, insoluble in water, but very soluble in alcohol, ether, and chloroform. 
It exists in very minute proportion in the bark, only one part being procurable 
from one thousand parts of dry bark ; it is supposed that the seeds contain it 
in much larger quantities. A specimen of the pure alkaloid was exhibited, and 
its alkaline nature shown by experiment. The writer proposed to give it the 
name of Nereine , from the former name of the plant which yields it, Nerium 
cintidysentericum. It is believed that this is the first alkaloid which has been 
extracted from the generally acrid and poisonous family the Apocynese, to 
which the plant belongs.” (From the 4 Transactions of the Medical and Physical 
Society of Bombay,’ new series, vol. iv., Appendix of Proceedings, p. xxviii. 
Meeting of 2nd October, 1858.) 
The name Nereine being liable to cause confusion, now that an alkaloid or 
alkaloids have been found in the Oleanders, I had since proposed to myself, and 
now propose, to give to the alkaloid of Wrightia the name of Cones sine, from 
the Hindustani name of the bark. I altogether ' rejected the name Wrightine , 
as too uncouth. 
