172 
Poisoning  by  Aconitine. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharin, 
(     April,  1882. 
The  first  examined  was  the  nitrate  of  aconitin  labeled  (6),  since  it 
was  the  kind  used  in  dispensing  the  mixture,  the  prescription  for 
which  was  as  follows  : 
R    Aconitini  nitrici,  .  .  .  ,0*2 
Tinct.  chenopodii  ambrosioid.,         .  .  100 
D.  S.  hourly,  20—40—60  drops. 
It  appears  that  the  physician  intended  Friedliinders  nitrate  of  acon- 
itine ;  but,  as  he  did  not  say  so,  the  dispenser  used  a  preparation  he 
had  in  stock  and  which  had  been  obtained  originally  from  Petit,  of 
Paris.  It  consisted  of  hard  white  crystals,  which  were  difficultly 
soluble  in  cold  water.  A  0*2  per  cent,  solution  was  prepared  for 
subcutaneous  injection  in  experiments  upon  frogs,  rabbits,  dogs  and 
pigeons. 
The  sample  of  Merck's  nitrate  of  aconitine  (c)  was  a  yellow-brown 
powdei",  which  dissolved  easily  in  water.  As  a  weaker  action  was 
anticipated  from  this  preparation,  a  1  {)er  cent,  sohition  was  used. 
The  sample  of  Friedliinder's  nitrate  of  aconitine'  was  a  hard,  gray- 
ish-white, agglutinated  gummy  mass,  very  soluble  in  water.  Of  this- 
a  1  per  cent,  solution  was  used. 
The  physiological  phenomena  following  the  injection  of  these  dif- 
ferent solutions  are  minutely  described  in  the  original  paper.  The 
difference  between  the  a-ction  of  Petit's  preparation  and  that  of  Merck's 
appeared  to  be  quantitative  only,  no  qualitative  difference  being 
observed.  Both  were  powerful  heart  poisons,  death  resulting  from 
stoppage  of  the  heart's  action.  Friedliinder's  preparation  apparently 
differed  in  not  affecting  the  heart  so  much,  in  proportion  to  the  devel- 
opment  of  the  other  aconite  symptoms,  such  as  a  chewing  motion  of 
the  mouth,  flow  of  saliva,  difficulty  of  breathing,  dyspnoea,  etc. 
The  relative  activity  of  the  preparations  is  shown  in  the  following 
tables : 
[h)  Nitras  Aconitini,  from  Petit,  Pa7'is. 
Dose.  Effect, 
Froo:s,  0"4  nig.  =^  per  kilo  16  mg.  Death  in  60  minutes. 
Rabbits,  0*8  nig.  "  0*5  to  0-6  nig.  Death  in  30  minutes. 
Dogs,  ro  mg.  "  0'21  mg.  Deatli  in  20  minutes. 
"  0-45  mg.  "  O'lO  mg.  Deatli  in  140  minutes^ 
"  0-50  mg.  "  0-054  mg.  Recovered. 
"  0-66  mg.  "  0-075  mg.  Recovered. 
Pigeons,  0*07  mg.  "  0*22  mg.  Death  in  21  minutes. 
