THE 
AMERICAN  JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
SEPTEMBER,  1865. 
ON  VERATRUM  YIRIDE. 
By  Charles  Bullock. 
The  sedative  action  of  Veratrum  viride  has  been  so  well  at- 
tested by  the  experience  of  medical  practitioners,  that  its  thera- 
peutical claims  have  been  acknowledged  by  placing  two  prepa- 
rations of  the  plant  in  the  present  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  United 
States.  A  number  of  examinations,  to  determine  the  chemical 
constituents  of  the  root  of  Veratrum  viride,  have  resulted  in  the 
isolation  of  an  alkaloid  which  answered  in  general  character  to 
veratria. 
The  paper  of  Mr.  G.  J.  Scattergood,  read  before  the  Ameri- 
can Pharmaceutical  Association  in  1862,  showed  that  the  prin- 
ciple supposed  to  be  veratria  was  associated  with  a  resin  posses- 
sing greater  effect  in  reducing  the  force  and  frequency  of  the 
pulse  than  the  alkaloid  itself.  Dr.  Percy's  experiments  with  a 
sample  of  purified  commercial  veratria,  demonstrated  that  prin- 
ciple to  possess  less  sedative  action  than  the  resin  associated 
with  the  veratria  of  Veratrum  viride.  Mr.  Scattergood  found 
the  resin  precipitated  from  the  tincture  of  Veratrum  viride  after 
treatment  with  ether,  to  possess  sedative  action  to  a  remarkable 
degree.  As  the  subject  is  open  to  farther  investigation,  the 
following  notes  of  an  examination  of  the  root  may  perhaps  add 
something  to  the  sum  of  our  information  regarding  its  active 
constituents. 
Profiting  by  the  experience  of  former  investigators,  the  fol- 
lowing process  was  adopted  for  procuring  the  active  principle  of 
the  plant : 
A  fluid  extract  was  prepared  according  to  the  formula  adopted 
in  the  last  edition  of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia,  viz.,  thirty-two 
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