40 
ATROPINE, DATURINE, AND ACONITINE. 
smell and not altered by exposure to air ; heated upon platinum? 
it melted very readily, took fire, and left a shining black cinder, 
which was entirely consumed. It cannot be volatillized like datu- 
rine and atropine. Aconitine is heavier than water; it dissolves 
very easily in alcohol, less so in ether; it melts at 176° F. to a 
transparent vitreous mass without losing in weight ; at 248° it be- 
gins to turn brown, and is decomposed at a higher temperature. It 
has a strong alkaline reaction, completely neutralizes acids, but 
the salts do not crystallize. The muriate of aconitine furnishes, 
with potash, ammonia and carbonate of potash, a white flocculent 
precipitate of aconitine, which is slightly soluble in an excess of 
the reagent. No precipitate is produced by carbonate of ammonia, 
bicarbonate of soda or phosphate of soda. Chloride of gold gives 
a dense yellowish precipitate, which is not perceptibly soluble in 
muriatic acid ; chloride of platinum gives no precipitate. With 
perchloride of mercury and sulphocy anide of potassium white caseous 
precipitates are obtained ; that formed by the first reagent dissolves 
without difficulty in muriatic acid and chloride of ammonium. 
Tincture of iodine produces a kermesine-brown ; tincture of galls 
and tannic acid, upon the addition of a drop of muriatic acid, a 
dense flocculent precipitate, which requires much muriatic acid for 
its solution. Nitropicric acid gives a yellow precipitate, insolu- 
ble in ammonia. The analysis of aconitine, dried under the air- 
pump, furnished on an average of three trials, Cartoon 67.97, Hy- 
drogen 8.79, Nitrogen, 3.42, Oxygen 19.82, represented by C 60 H 47 
N0 14 . 
It follows from this that the atomic weight of aconitine is 533.66. 
The muriate of aconitine, prepared by passing muriatic gas at 212° 
over aconitine, contained 13.41 per cent, of muriatic acid. Ac- 
cording to which we have-^ 
Calculated according to 
Found. CR° H-»7 NOi4-f 2HCI. 
1 equiv. aconitine ... 533 86.59 87.16 
2 equivs. muriatic acid . . 72.92 13.41 12.84 
1 equiv. bimuriate of aconitine 605.92 100.00 100.00 
Chemical Gazette, Sept. 16,, Liebig's Annalen, Ixxiv. p. 245- 
