Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
May,  1882.  j 
Gleanings  in  Materia  Medica. 
251 
Notwithstanding  all  the  elaborate  detail  and  repetitions  with  which 
the  writer  has,  perhaps,  overloaded  this  process,  there  are  few  who  will 
be  successful  with  it  until  after  two  or  three  trials  ;  and  the  younger 
physicians  and  pharmacists  upon  whom  must  fall  the  responsibility  of 
upholding  the  standards  of  the  materia  medica, — to  whom  these  elabo- 
rate details  are  addressed, — should  not  be  discouraged  if  very  many 
trials  be  needed  to  render  them  expert  enough  to  obtain  tolerably 
accurate  and  uniform  results. — JEphemeris,  No.  1. 
GLEANINGS  IN  MATEEIA  MEDICA. 
By  the  Editor. 
Chelidoniwn  majus  contains,  according  to  Haitinger,  notable  quan- 
tities of  citric  acid,  besides  the  previously  known  chelidonic  and  malic 
acids. — Monatsh.  Ch.  ii,  485. 
Lupinine  is  an  alkaloid,  recognized  by  Campani  in  the  seeds  of 
Lupinus  albus.  Betelli  prepares  it  from  the  decoction  of  the  seeds,, 
by  treating  it  with  lime,  concentrating  the  filtrate  and  exhausting  thi& 
with  ether.  The  alkaloid  is  precipitated  by  tannin  and  the  chlorides 
of  platinum  and  mercury,  reduces  gold  solution  and  silver  nitrate, 
crytallizes  from  benzol  in  needles,  is  dissolved  from  the  alkaline  aque- 
ous solution  by  agitation  with  ether,  benzol  and  chloroform,  has  a  very 
bitter  taste,  and  is  poisonous  to  frogs,  but  apparently  not  deleterious  ta 
man,  even  if  given  in  rather  large  doses. — Gaz.  chim.,  xi,  237,  240; 
Phar.Ztsch.  RussL,  1882.  31. 
M'boundou  or  Icaja  poison  contains,  according  to  E.Heckel  and  F. 
Schlagdenhauffen,  only  one  alkaloid,  strychnine,  which  is  not  colored 
red  by  nitric  acid  and  is  therefore  free  from  brucine. — Jour,  Phys, 
Chim.,  V,  34;  Chem.  Ztg.,  1882,  27. 
Abrus  precatorius. — The  seeds,  which  weigh  on  an  average  2  gr., 
are  poisonous.  Prof.  C.  I.  H.  Warden  did  not  succeed  in  isolating 
the  poisonous  principle,  but  obtained  a  white  crystalline  acid  and  an 
oil.  Abric  acid  was  obtained  by  exhausting  the  seeds  with  boiling 
alcohol ;  its  formula  appears  to  be  C2H24N3O  ;  it  is  slightly  soluble  in 
cold,  but  dissolves  in  boiling  water,  crystallizing  on  cooling,  and  with 
bases  forms  well-defined  crystalline  salts.  The  physiological  experi- 
ments gave  the  following  results  : 
a.  The  mixture  of  half  a  seed  with  cold  water,  injected  into  a  cat's 
thigh,  produced  fatal  efiects  in  from  18  to  30  hours.    No  effects  were 
