PART VII.—POISONS DERIVED FROM LIVING OR 
DEAD ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 
DIVISION I.—POISONS SECRETED BY LIVING 
ANIMALS. 
I.—Poisonous Amphibia. 
§ 643. The Salamander. —The glands of the skin of certain amphibia 
possess a secretion that is poisonous ; the animal is unable to empty the 
poison glands by any voluntary act, but the secretion can readily be 
obtained by pressure. 
In 1899, Faust 1 made a research on the salamander, using no less 
than a thousand of these small amphibia, and separated two active bases 
in the form of crystalline sulphates. 
The animals, killed by chloroform, were finely minced, and the product 
extracted with water acidified by acetic acid, at a boiling temperature. 
The extract was precipitated by lead acetate, the excess of lead got rid of 
by sulphuric acid ; the bases precipitated by phospho-tungstic acid, and 
set free by baryta ; the solution thus obtained had to be purified from a 
substance giving a biuret reaction. After more than one precipitation 
with phospho-tungstic acid, the final solution is exactly neutralised with 
sulphuric acid and evaporated to dryness ; the yellow residue is dissolved 
in alcohol, and ether added until a turbidity results. After a few days, 
if the liquid be kept at a low temperature, crystals appear ; the sub¬ 
stance is separated, purified, and finally dissolved in hot water, and the 
solution allowed to cool slowly. In this, fine needle-like crystals were 
obtained, to which Faust ascribes the formula (C 26 H 80 N 2 O) 2 + H 2 SO 4 , and 
gives the name of samandarin sulphate. The sulphate is optically 
active (a D = —53-69°). A few of the crystals treated in a test tube with 
concentrated hydrochloric acid and boiled for a few minutes give a 
solution at first violet and finally deep blue. The free base 
“ samandarin ” is an oil of a pale yellow colour. A second alkaloid, 
1 Die thierisehen Gifte, Braunschweig, 1906. 
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