PSEUDOMORPHINE. 
§§ 382-384.] 
321 
HoO. Thebaine is lsevorotatory. It is a tertiary base containing no hydroxyl groups. 
It contains two methoxyl groups, and is nearly related to morphine and codeine. 
If 200 mgrms. of thebaine are heated to boiling with 1-4 c.c. of HC1 and 2-8 c.c. of 
water, and the solution diluted, after boiling, with 4 c.c. of water, crystals of thebaine 
hydrochloride form in the yellow fluid in the course of a few hours.— FliicJciger. 
§ 382. Effects. —There is no disagreement of opinion as to the action of thebaine. 
By the united testimony of all who have experimented with it, the alkaloid belongs 
to those poisons which produce tetanus, and the symptoms can scarcely be differentiated 
■ from those of strychnine. In Baxt’s experiments on frogs he showed that there was 
some considerable difference in details in the general course of the symptoms, accord¬ 
ing to the dose of the poison. A small dose (such, for example, as -75 mgrm.) injected 
into a frog subcutaneously produces immediate excitement, the animal jumping about, 
and this stage lasting for about a minute ; it then becomes quieter, and has from three 
to six minutes’ sleep ; in a little time this comatose state is followed by reflex tetanic 
spasms and then spontaneous tetanic spasms. With three times the dose, the tetanic 
convulsions commence early, and death takes place in from two to six hours. Baxt 1 
found 6 to 7 mgrms. kill rabbits with tetanic convulsions in from fifteen to twenty- 
five minutes. Crum Brown and Fraser also found that 12 mgrms. injected into rabbits 
were fatal; it may then be presumed that the lethal dose for a rabbit is about 5 mgrms. 
per kilo. A frog’s heart under the action of thebaine, and removed from the body, 
beats quicker and ceases earlier than one in distilled water. Thebaine has been 
administered to the insane subcutaneously in doses of from 12 to 40 mgrms., when a 
rise of temperature and an increase in the respiratory movements and in the circulation 
were noticed . 2 
The fatal dose for a man is not known ; *5 grm., or about 8 grains, would probably 
be a poisonous quantity. 
§ 383. Cryptopine (C 21 H 23 N0 5 ) was discovered by T. and H. Smith in 1867. 3 4 lb 
is contained in very minute traces only in opium—something like -003 per cent. It 
is a crystalline substance, the crystals being colourless, six-sided prisms, without 
odour, but with a bitter taste, causing an after-sensation like peppermint. The crystals 
melt at 218°, and congeal in a crystalline form again at 171° ; at high temperatures 
they are decomposed with evolution of ammoniacal vapour. Cryptopine is insoluble, 
or almost so, in ether, water, and oil of turpentine ; it is soluble in acetone, benzene, 
and chloroform ; the latter is the best solvent, or hot alcohol; it is insoluble in 
aqueous ammonia and in solutions of the caustic alkaloids. Cryptopine is strongly 
basic, neutralising fully mineral acids. It is optically inactive and contains two 
methoxyl groups. Concentrated sulphuric acid colours cryptopine pure blue, the tint 
gradually fading from absorption of water from the atmosphere. On a crystal of 
potassic nitrate being added, the colour changes into a permanent green. With 
ferric chloride cryptopine gives no colour—thus distinguishing it from morphine. 
The physiological properties of cryptopine have been investigated by Dr Harley ; 1 
it has a narcotic action, about twice as strong as narceine, and four times weaker 
than morphine. Munk and Sippel 5 found that it gave rise in animals to paralysis 
of the limbs, and occasionally asphyxic convulsions before death. 
§ 384. Pseudomorphine (C 17 H 19 N0 3 ) 2 .—Pseudomorphine was discovered by 
Pelletier and Thiboumery in 1835. It is non-poisonous, and may be formed by the 
condensation of two molecules of morphine and the loss of two atoms of hydrogen. 
As precipitated by ammonia out of the hot solution, pseudomorphine falls as a white 
crystalline precipitate ; but if the solution is cold, the precipitate is gelatinous. It 
possesses no taste, and has no action on vegetable colours. On heating, it decomposes 
1 Sitzungsber. d. Wien. Akadem., lvi. 2, 89, 1867; Arch. f. Anat. u. Physiol., Hft. 
1, p. 112, 1869. 
2 F. W. Muller, Das Thebaine: eine Monographic, Diss., Marburg, 1868. 
3 Pharm. Journ. Trans. [2], viii. 495 and 716. 
4 The Old Vegetable Neurotics. 
5 Munk, Versuche iiber die Wirkung des Cryptopins, Berlin, 1873; Sippell, 
Beitrdge zur Kenntniss des Cryptopins, Marburg, 1874. 
21 
