120 
BIUTISH PHAEMACEUTICAL CONFERENCE. 
small, is far greater than could ]30ssibly be accounted for on the above suppo¬ 
sition. The only principle other than aconitine that I am able to suggest as 
capable of accounting for the difference observed between the physiological 
action of aconitine and that of the dried root, is the acrid resin with which 
the roots may be said to abound. I have no doubt that body does exert an 
important action when applied topically. The loss of strength observed in 
drying aconite plants is. doubtless due (as I have before said) to the very 
ready destructibility of the alkaloid aconitine. 
My conclusion, “ that Aconitum Napellus does not contain a volatile acrid 
body to which may be attributed a part of the poisonous effects of the plant,” 
is one that I had anticipated, for the analogy of the other RanunculacecB 
seemed, in my opinion, to point that way. It is true, as some writers have 
insisted, that Anemone and Ilanunculus furnish acrid volatile principles ; it 
is no less true that they furnish nothing else of much activity. Aconite, on 
the other hand, has been long known to furnish the alkaloid aconitine—a 
body sufficiently acrid and energetic to account for the poisonous character of 
the plant; and it seems to me but probable that in Aconite it occupies the 
place which in Ranunculus and Anemone is filled by the volatile acrid bodies 
to which I have referred. 
Aconitine, 
Since the discovery of this alkaloid by Geiger and Wesse, in 1833, it has, 
from its extreme activity as a poison, and the great difficulty of obtaining it 
pure, much attracted the attention of pharmaceutists. As a tour cle force,, 
its preparation possessed a charm for me, so that during the last ten years or 
so I have made several attempts to obtain it. 
Dr. Turnbull was one of the first to introduce it into the medical practice 
of this countiy, and himself published several processes for preparing it. 
The following is his first method,—expressly designed, one woulcl imagine, 
for showing “ how not to do it— 
“ Procure fresh roots of Aconite, dry, and powder ; mix one part of root 
with two parts of spirit, and digest for seven days. The warm tincture fil¬ 
tered, carefully reduce it to a fluid extract. To it add Liquid Ammonia, but 
not too much, ‘ as in some instances the product appears to have been decom¬ 
posed by inattention to this circumstance.’ The precipitated mass is now 
boiled with Alcohol or Sulphuric Ether to remove the alkaloid, or treated 
with cold water to remove the extractive, etc., which last method the doctor 
prefers, in which case the residue is purified by solution in Alcohol. The 
light brown or grey powder thus obtained is extremely poisonous,—one- 
third of a grain caused the death of a guinea-pig in a few minutes.” 
This process was afterwards somewhat improved by adding cold water to 
the spiritous extract, filtering off the precipitated resin, and precipitating from 
the filtrate the alkaloid by ammonia. The purification is effected by washing 
repeatedly with cold w^ater. The product is said to be white. 
This modified form is very nearly that prescribed in P. L. 1826. The P. L. 
of 1851 entirely omitted both its description and preparation. It is not sur¬ 
prising to find that by following these methods the products of different la¬ 
boratories were by no means alike, either in activity or chemical characteris¬ 
tics, whilst more frequently the alkaloid was altogether missed. Thence its 
preposterous price (3^. 6c^. a grain), and the discredit, so uncertain yet at 
times so frightfully active an agent began to find attached to it. Thence, 
also, the contradictory accounts of writers on the subject, some affirming it 
to be crystallizable, others not so. Similar differences as to its effect on the 
23upil are not yet settled. The preparation of Mr. Morson is stated to be the 
only one to be relied upon for purity, but possibly this is not so true now as 
