372  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.  jour.Pharm. 
July,  1897. 
is  true,  of  course,  but  the  trade  opinion  shows  that  cutch  prepared 
by  the  vacuum  process,  though  pronounced  by  chemical  examina- 
tion to  be  of  great  purity  and  good  appearance,  will  not,  for  the 
present  at  least,  secure  anything  like  a  good  price  in  the  market." 
THE  ALKALOIDS  OF  VERATRUM. 
George  B.  Frankforter,  in  Minnesota  Botannical  Studies,  Bulletin 
No.  9,  May  31,  1897,  gives  an  elaborate  review  of  the  veratrums,  but 
especially  mentions  V.  viride,  which  is  the  only  one  occurring  in 
Minnesota.  Its  general  range  in  North  America,  under  the  popular 
name  of  Hellebore,  is  a  broad  one. 
The  substance  commonly  known  in  pharmacy  as  veratrine,  varies 
widely  in  its  composition,  chemical,  physical  and  physiological  prop, 
erties.  The  introduction  of  the  so-called  "  Merck  veratrine  "  has 
changed  matters  somewhat,  although  samples  of  the  Merck  alkaloid 
have  been  found  to  vary  considerably  in  their  general  properties. 
One  of  the  chief  causes  of  this  exceptional  variation  is  the  extreme 
difficulty  with  which  the  alkaloid  crystallizes,  thus  almost  excluding 
the  most  important  means  of  purification.  Another,  and  perhaps 
the  most  important  reason  for  this  wide  variation,  lies  in  the  fact 
that  almost  every  one  of  the  early  investigators  of  the  "  veratria  " 
has  given  the  name  to  a  different  alkaloid,  or  to  a  mixture  of 
alkaloids. 
The  foregoing  introduction  is  followed  by  a  concise  history,  be- 
ginning in  1 8 19  with  the  work  of  Pelletier  and  Caventou  on  Vera- 
trum  sabadilla  and  following  it  step  by  step  down  to  Salzberger, 
who  in  1890  made  an  exhaustive  examination  of  Veratrum  album. 
Then  follows  the  "  experimental  part "  in  which  the  author  oper- 
ated on  a  sample  of  crystallized  veratrine  which  was  of  a  light  gray 
color,  and  appeared,  when  highly  magnified,  in  imperfect  granular 
crystals.  It  was  slightly  soluble  in  water,  very  soluble  in  methyl, 
ethyl  and  amyl  alcohols,  and  in  ether,  acetone,  chloroform  and  car- 
bon disulphide.  Its  melting  point  after  repurifying  was  146  to 
1480  C,  and  its  identity  with  that  described  by  Merck  and  Ahrens 
was  established  by  elementary  analysis,  as  well  as  by  the  melting 
point  of  the  gold  double  salt.  The  formula  was  made  out  to  be  C32 
H19N09H20. 
