THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
JULY,  1882. 
IS  GELSEMIC  ACID  IDENTICAL  WITH  JESCULIN? 
With  Observations  on  the  Preparation,  Properties  and  Recovery,  ivhen 
Absorbed,  of  the  Important  Constituents  of  Gelsemium 
Semper vir ens,  and  Gelsemium  Poisoning. 
By  Theodore  G.  Wormley,  M.D., 
Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 
In  a  former  number  of  this  journal  (Jan.,  1870)  the  writer  an- 
nounced that.  Gelsemium  Sempervirens  contained  a  non-nitrogenized 
principle,  of  an  acid  reaction,  which  was  named  gelseminic,  or  gelsemic 
acid ;  and  also  a  strongly  basic  principle,  which  was  named  gelsemia, 
or  gelsemine. 
From  a  subsequent  examination  of  the  constituents  of  the  plant,  M. 
.Sonnenschein  and  Charles  Robbins  concluded  that  the  so-called  gel- 
semic acid  was  identical  in  properties  and  composition  with  the  gluco- 
side  cesculin,  found  in  the  bark  of  the  horse-chestnut,  and  certain 
other  barks  ('^Ber.  der  Deut.  Ges.,''  Sept.  1876,  1182). 
Before  examining  this  question  of  claimed  identity,  the  method,  of 
several  employed,  which  we  have  more  recently  found  the  most  satis- 
factory for  the  extraction  of  the  two  important  constituents  of  the 
plant,  will  briefly  be  given. 
Preparation. — 100  grams  of  the  powdered  dry  root  are  macerated 
for  two  days  in  400  cc.  of  a  mixture  of  equal  parts  of  water  and 
alcohol  of '815,  the  mixture  being  slightly  acidulated  with  acetic  acid 
and  occasionally  warmed  and  agitated.  The  liquid  is  strained  through 
muslin,  and  the  solids  well  washed  with  water  containing  a  little  alco- 
hol, the  washings  being  collected  with  the  first  liquid.  The  whole  is 
evaporated  to  about  200  cc,  and  allowed  to  stand  until  the  resinous 
matter  has  deposited.  The  liquid  is  then  filtered,  concentrated  to  about 
80  cc.  and,  if  necessary,  again  filtered. 
1.  The  non-nitrogenized  'principle. — This  is  extracted  from^the  con- 
centrated liquid,  while  it  still  has  an  acid  reaction,  by  ether,  in  the 
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