426 
Investigations  on  Strophanthus. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I     August,  1887. 
per  cent,  of  green  fixed  oil,  and  on  subsequent  treatment  with  84  per 
cent,  alcohol,  52  per  cent,  of  extract.  Using  upon  various  samples  of 
seeds  successively  petroleum  benzin,  ether  and  absolute  alcohol,  the 
latter  yielded  5  per  cent,  of  extract,  or  considerably  more  than  had 
been  obtained  by  Elborne.  The  alcoholic  extract  may  be  obtained 
without  the  costly  process  of  percolation  with  ether  ;  on  boiling  the 
ground  seeds  with  alcohol,  and  distilling  and  evaporating  the  tincture, 
about  5  per  cent,  of  hard  extract  is  obtained,  from  which  the  31 
per  cent,  of  oil  can  be  easily  poured  off,  and  adhering  traces  be  washed 
away  with  very  little  ether.  Elborne' s  results  of  the  absence  of  an 
alkaloid,  ineine,  from  the  comose  hairs  are  confirmed. 
Strophanthin  was  prepared  from  the  alcoholic  extract,  by  dissolving 
it  in  water,  filtering,  adding  excess  of  tannin,  washing  the  gray  precipi- 
tate with  warm  water,  mixing  with  excess  of  lead  acetate,  drying  the 
mixture,  exhausting  it  with  warm  alcohol,  removing  lead  by  H2S,  fil- 
tering and  evaporating.  Thus  obtained,  strophanthin  is  pale  yellowish,, 
amorphous,  readily  pulverizable,  burns  without  residue,  dissolves 
freely  in  water  and  alcohol,  and  is  insoluble  in  absolute  ether  or 
chloroform.  The  watery  solution,  when  shaken,  gives  much  froth ; 
warmed  with  silver  nitrate  the  latter  is  reduced ;  tannin  causes  a 
white  precipitate  ;  on  boiling  with  dilute  sulphuric  acid  glucose  is 
produced. 
Helbing  (ibid.  p.  924),  had  observed  that  concentrated  sulphuric 
acid  dissolves  strophanthin,  changing  the  color  to  dark  green  and 
finally  dark  reddish-brown.  Minute  traces  of  strophanthin  may  be 
detected  by  dissolving  in  a  drop  of  water,  adding  a  trace  of  solution 
of  ferric  chloride,  and  then  a  little  concentrated  sulphuric  acid  ;  a 
reddish-brown  precipitate  is  formed  which  in  the  course  of  an  hour  or 
two  turns  emerald-green  or  a  little  darker-green,  and  this  color  re- 
mains unchanged  for  a  long  time. 
Dr.  F.  F.  Hanausek  has  published  (Phar.  Post,  May  8,  1887,  p.. 
301),  a  description  of  strophanthus  seeds,  from  which  the  following 
abstract  is  made  :  Length  of  the  seed  15  to  20  mm.,  width  4  mm.r 
thickness  about  1  mm.,  base  rounded,  apex  attenuated  to  point 
which  is  prolonged  into  an  awn  almost  9  cm.  long,  the  upper  third  of 
which  is  on  all  sides  beset  with  delicate  silky  fragile  hairs  about  6  cm.. 
in  length.  Seed  yellowish-white,  covered  feltlike  with  soft  silky  hairs.. 
The  transverse  section  shows  under  the  wrinkled  testa  a  thin  endosperm 
and  two  nearly  piano  convex  cotyledons,  the  latter  constituting  the 
