Am.  Jour  Pharm.  \ 
Mar.,  1878.  J 
Veratrum  Alkaloids. 
125 
solution  of  sodium  carbonate,  and  purifying  the  alkaloid  with  strong 
alcohol,  when  it  formed  perfectly  white  needles,  which,  by  ultimate 
analysis  gave  results,  leading  to  the  formula  C13H23N04,  or  more  closely 
to  C27H47N2Og  (0=i6).  The  sulphate  and  hydrochlorate  have  the 
composition  C27H47N208,H2S04  and  C27H47N208,HC1. 
The  acid  filtrate  D  was  precipitated  with  sodium  carbonate,  and  the 
precipitate  freed  from  jervia,  as  recommended  by  Bujlock,  by  dissolv- 
ing in  acetic  acid,  and  treating  with  potassium  nitrate  ;  the  filtrate  was 
rendered  alkaline  by  sodium  carbonate  and  agitated  with  chloroform  \ 
a  small  quantity  of  light  yellow  amorphous  veratroidia  was  obtained, 
having  the  following  reactions  : 
Concentrated  sulphuric  acid  gave  a  yellow  solution,  passing  through 
light  brown-red  into  deep  raspberry  red. 
Concentrated  muriatic  acid  yielded  a  light  yellowish  rose-red  solution, 
which,  on  heating,  became  dirty  yellow,  and  with  sulphuric  acid  and 
heating  brown-red. 
Concentrated  nitric  acid  produced  a  light  yellow  solution,  which, 
with  sulphuric  acid  and  on  being  heated,  turned  transiently  orange  red 
and  passed  into  lemon-yellow. 
The  author  observed  that  small  quantities  of  veratroidia,  also  of 
veratria,  will  materially  modify  the  reaction  of  jervia,  and  commercial 
jervia  seems  often  to  contain  one  or  both  of  these  alkaloids.  Vera- 
troidia is  dissolved  by  cold  concentrated  muriatic  acid  with  a  pale  rose- 
red  color,  which,  when  heated,  is  rapidly  discolored.  Veratria,  on 
the  contrary,  dissolves  in  cold  muriatic  acid  colorless,  an  intense 
and  lasting  red  coloration  being  produced  by  heat,  and  this  is  likewise 
the  case  with  sabatrina  and  sabadillia. 
Veratroidia  is  rather  freely  soluble  in  water,  freely  in  alcohol,  ether  and 
chloroform,  little  in  petroleum  ether  (gasolin),  somewhat  more  in 
benzin  and  amylic  alcohol.  It  dissolves  in  water  to  about  the  same  extent 
as  sabadillia,  less  than  sabatrina  and  more  freely  than  veratria  ;  it 
differs  from  sabadillia  by  its  greater  solubility  in  ether. 
The' two  alkaloids,  jervia  and  veratroidia,  were  also  found  in  culti- 
vated old  and  recent  rhizomes,  and  in  the  young  leaves  of  Veratrum 
Lobelianum,  and  in  the  dried  rhizome  of  Ver.  album,  which  yielded 
little  jervia  and  more  veratroidia. 
Jervia  is  very  sparingly  soluble  in  water  and  in  solution  of  sodium 
carbonate,  freely  in  alcohol  and  in  chloroform,  less  in  amylic  alcohoL 
