ATROPINE, DATURINE AND ACONITINE. 
37 
3. At Mr. Moore's physic-grounds we found another sort of 
aconite in cultivation, under the name of giant monkshood, but 
we were informed that as yet none of it had been taken to mar- 
ket. The specimens which we saw were about five feet high. 
The inflorescence was a somewhat loose panicle, with ascending 
stiffish branches, the helmet conical, the color of the flowers a 
paler or brighter blue than that of A. JVapellus, the staminal 
filaments hairy, the carpels or young fruits converging. The last 
character readily distinguishes it from A. JVapellus, the carpels or 
young fruits of which diverge from each other. It appears to be 
referable to Reichenbach's section Corythaelon which is charac- 
terized as follows : — (Rad. tuberosa, fol. 5-7-pedata) perianthio 
deciduo, fructu juniori nutante, carpidiis apice convergentibus." 
In this section Reichenbach places three species — A. palmatifi- 
dum, Reichenb., with smooth filaments ; A. exaltatum, Bernhardi, 
with hairy filaments and conical hemlet ; and A. Stoerkianum, 
Riechenb., w T ith hairy filaments and vaulted hemlet. From these 
characters this giant aconite appears to be A. exaltatum of Bern- 
hardi, of which "A. decorum" is given by Reichenbach as a syno- 
nyme. In confirmation of this statement we find that the giant 
aconite of Mitcham agrees in every particular which we can dis- 
cover, with a plant growing in the gardens of the Royal Botanic 
Society, Regent's Park, and ticketed "Aconitum decorum." 
Reichenbach says, this species flowers in July and August in Ger- 
many; we found it in flower and beginning to give fruit, both at 
Mitcham and at Regent's Park, in the beginning of September. — 
London Pharm. Transactions, Oct. 1, 1850. 
ON THE CONSTITUTION OF ATROPINE, DATURINE AND 
ACONITINE. 
By Dr. A. von Planta. 
Atropine. — The atropine used by the author for these researches 
was prepared by Merck, and possessed the following properties : — 
It dissolved in 299 parts of water at the ordinary temperature ; dis- 
solved in almost every proportion in alcohol, but less readily in 
ether ; in both liquids, as well as in water, the solubility is in- 
creased by heat. It fused at 194° F. to a clear transparent mass, 
