COCAINE. 
§§ 42I-423-] 
355 
Ringer and Murrell have also experimented upon the action of gelsemine on the frog’s 
heart. In all cases it decreased the number of beats ; a small fatal dose produced a 
white contracted heart, a large fatal dose, a dark dilated heart; in either case arrest 
of the circulation of course followed. 
§ 421. Effects on Man. —The preparations used in medicine are the fluid extract 
and the tincture of gelsemine ; the latter appears to contain the resin of the root as 
well as the active principle. There are several cases on record of gelsemine, or the 
plant itself, having been taken with fatal effect . 1 Besides a marked effect on the 
respiration, there is an effect upon the eye, better seen in man than in the lower 
animals ; the motor nerves of the eye are attacked first, objects cannot be fixed, 
apparently dodging their position, the eyelids become paralysed, droop, and cannot 
be raised by an effort of the will; the pupils are largely dilated, and at the same 
time a feeling of lightness has been complained of in the tongue ; it ascends gradually 
to the roof of the mouth, and the pronunciation is slurred. There is some paresis of 
the extremities, and they refuse to support the body ; the respiration becomes 
laboured, and the pulse rises in frequency to 120 or 130 beats per minute, but the 
mind remains clear. The symptoms occur in about an hour and a half after taking 
an overdose of the drug, and, if not excessive, soon disappear, leaving no unpleasant¬ 
ness behind. If, on the other hand, the case proceeds to a fatal end, the respiratory 
trouble increases, and there may be convulsions, and a course very similar to that 
seen in experimenting on animals. Large dosesare especially hkely to produce tetanus, 
which presents some clinical differences distinguishing it from strychnine tetanus. 
Gelsemine tetanus is always preceded by a loss of voluntary reflex power, respiration 
ceases before the onset of convulsions, the posterior extremities are most affected, 
and irritation fails to excite another paroxysm till the lapse of some seconds, as if 
the exhausted cord required time to renew its energy ; finally, the convulsions only 
last a short time. 
§ 422. Extraction from Organic Matters, or the Tissues of the Body. —Dragen- 
dorff states that, from as little as half a grain of the root, both gelsemine and gelsemic 
acid may be extracted with acid water, and identified. On extracting with water 
acidified with sulphuric acid, and shaking up the acid liquid with chloroform, the 
gelsemic acid (sescuhn ?) is dissolved, and the gelsemine left in the liquid. The 
chloroform on evaporation leaves gelsemic acid in little micro-crystals ; it may be 
identified by ( 1 ) its crystallising in little tufts of crystals; (2) its strong fluorescent 
properties, 1 part dissolved in 15,000,000 parts of water showing a marked fluores¬ 
cence, which is increased by the addition of an alkali ; and (3) by splitting up into 
sugar and another body on boiling with a mineral acid. After separation of gelsemic 
acid, the gelsemine is obtained by alkalising the liquid, and shaking up with fresh 
chloroform ; on separation of the chloroform, gelsemine may be identified by means* 
of the reaction with nitric acid, and also the reaction with potassic bichromate and 
sulphuric acid. 
6 . COCA ALKALOIDS—COCAINE. 
§ 423. The leaves of Erythroxylon coca contain a number of alkaloids, of which the 
following have been investigated :— 
Cocaine, C 17 H 21 N0 4 . 
Cinnamyl cocaine, C 19 H 23 N0 4 . 
a-Truxilline (C 19 H 23 N0 4 ) 2 . 
jS-Truxilhne (C 19 H 23 N0 4 ) 2 . 
Benzoyl ecgonine, C 16 H 19 N0 4 . 
Tropacocaine, C 1 s H iq N0 2 . 
Hygrine, C 8 H 16 NO. 
Cuscohygrine, C 13 H 24 N0 2 . 
All these alkaloids are esters of ecgonin, and 011 saponification they yield ecgonin, 
methyl alcohol , and an aromatic acid. 
1 See Lancet, 1873, ii. 475 ; Brit. Med. and Surg. Journ., April 1869 ; Phil. Med. 
and Surg. Reporter, 1861. 
