ON  SABADILLINE. 
133 
1.  A  copaiba  which  possesses  the  four  properties : — First,  of 
being  entirely  soluble  in  two  parts  of  absolute  alcohol.  Second, 
to  form  at  the  temperature  of  60°  Fahr.  a  transparent  mixture, 
with  two-fifths  of  its  weight  of  a  strong  solution  of  ammonia. 
Third,  to  solidify  with  one-sixteenth  its  weight  of  calcined  mag- 
nesia. Fourth,  to  produce  a  dry  and  brittle  resin  after  pro- 
longed ebullition  with  water,  is  a  balsam  which  is  certainly  pure  ; 
and  those  which  present  these  four  properties  are  to  be  preferred 
to  all  others. 
2.  The  last  character  is  an  indispensable  complement  to  the 
three  first,  which  alone  are  not  sufficient  to  certify  the  purity  of 
the  balsam.  On  the  other  hand,  one  or  two  of  the  first  characters 
may  be  wanting,  without  necessarily  involving  the  adulteration 
of  the  balsam.  When  these  characters  are  wanting,  we  must 
try  to  discover  the  presence  of  some  foreign  substance  ;  but  un- 
less we  can  prove  its  presence,  we  must  not  conclude  that  the 
balsam  has  been  adulterated — it  may  arise  from  some  unknown 
properties  in  the  variety  of  the  tree  from  which  it  is  produced. 
3.  The  characters  drawn  from  the  action  of  ammonia,  and  of 
calcined  and  carbonate  of  magnesia,  and  which  have  been  regarded 
as  the  most  certain  means  of  detecting  the  adulteration  of  copaiba 
by  a  fixed  oil,  are  far  from  possessing  that  value  which  has  been 
assigned  to  them.  The  soft  state  of  the  resin  of  copaiba,  de- 
prived of  its  volatile  oil  by  boiling  in  water,  is  a  much  more  cer- 
tain test  of  this  falsification. — Annals  of  Pharmacy,  Jan.  1853, 
from  Journal  de  Pharmacie. 
ON  SABADILLINE. 
By  Fr.  Hi)  bschm ann. 
It  is  known  that  Couerbe  has  discovered  in  sabadilla  seed,  be- 
sides veratrine,  a  second  organic  base,  which  he  has  named  saba- 
dilline.  He  obtained  it  by  boiling  the  impure  veratrine,  precipi- 
tated by  potash  or  soda,  with  water,  from  which  it  crystallizes 
out  by  cooling.  E.  Simon  afterwards  regarded  this  sabadilline 
of  Couerbe  as  a  double  compound  of  resin  and  soda  with  resinous 
veratrine,  from  whose  solutions  in  sulphuric  acid,  pure  veratrine 
could  be  precipitated  by  means  of  ammonia. 
The  author  now  shows,  by  the  following  research  with  a  body 
