NEW  ALKALOID  FOUND  IN  ACONITUM  NAPELLUS-  177 
tion,  unless  a  quantity  of  acid  be  used  not  greater  than  is  neces- 
sary to  redissolve  only  the  aconitina,  both  will  be  redissolved, 
and  at  the  next  precipitation  they  will  go  down  together  as  be- 
fore. 
If  the  aconella  has  not  already  been  removed  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  aconitina,  its  presence  can  be  prevented  by  carefully 
avoiding  more  than  the  faintest  acid  reaction  in  redissolving  the 
aconitina. 
Aconitina  is  a  strong  alkaloid,  and  therefore  at  once  turns 
reddened  litmus  blue  ;  on  the  contrary,  all  the  solutions  of  aco- 
nella in  acids,  strongly  redden  litmus  ;  therefore  after  redissolving 
the  precipitate  of  aconitina,  mixed  with  aconella  in  acids,  the 
liquid  should  show,  after  sufficient  time  and  agitation,  only  a 
slight  acid  reaction,  else  the  aconitina  when  again  precipitated 
will  be  mixed  to  a  more  or  less  extent  with  aconella.  Even  the 
use  of  ether  will  not  secure  the  absence  of  aconella,  because 
although  aconitina  is  very  soluble  in  ether,  aconella  is  not  by 
any  means  insoluble  in  that  liquid. 
Another  probable  cause  of  the  deterioration  of  aconitina  when 
mixed  with  aconella  may  be  the  absorption  of  the  aconitina  by 
the  charcoal  used  in  bleaching  it.  Charcoal  has  so  remarkable 
an  attraction  for  aconitina,  that  we  have  often  seen  it  entirely 
absorbed  by  the  charcoal ;  so  that  in  purifying  a  mixture  of 
aconitina  and  aconella,  it  might  very  readily  happen,  that  the 
substance  ultimately  obtained  would  not  contain  a  trace  of  acon- 
itina. 
The  quantity  of  aconitina  given  by  1  cwt.  of  the  fresh  roots, 
never,  so  far  as  our  experience  goes,  exceeds  1  oz.  A  simple 
calculation  founded  on  the  comparative  strength  of  the  aconite- 
root  and  pure  aconitina,  perhaps  the  most  potent  of  all  poisons, 
will  show  that  no  possible  means  could  yield  much  more  than 
that  quantity. 
The  crystallization  of  a  hot  spiritous  solution  of  aconella  in 
gaslight  presents  a  very  remarkable  and  beautiful  appearance. 
The  whole  body  of  the  liquid  seems  to  be  incessantly  emitting 
minute  flashes  of  light,  something  like  what  might  be  expected 
from  a  shower  of  minute  particles  of  incandescent  lime — a  sort 
12 
