AmlJp°rUiir;iP8?4arm-}  Solnine.  163 
nettle  has  been  used  by  the  negroes  as  an  aphrodisiac,  and  he  further 
gives  a  detailed  account  of  several  cases  of  tetanus  cured  by  it.  In 
the  form  of  a  syrup  it  has  a  local  reputation  in  Georgia  as  a  remedy 
for  cough.  According  to  Dr.  Napier,  it  is  a  very  active  diuretic 
besides  being  antispasmodic  and  anodyne. 
Recently  the  berries  have  come  into  repute  as  a  remedy,  and  a 
tincture  of  the  berries  and  the  root  as  well  is  made  to  a  consider- 
able extent  by  pharmacists.  About  a  year  ago,  I  recognized  the 
necessity  of  a  chemical  examination,  and  acquiescing  in  the  previous 
suggestion  of  my  brother,  found  as  predicted  by  him  that  the  char- 
acteristic constituent  was  alkaloidal,  and  obtained  it  as  follows : 
Preparation  of  Solnine. — Percolate  the  root  of  the  plant  with  alcohol. 
Distil  the  alcohol  in  the  presence  of  enough  water  to  leave  one  part 
of  residue,  in  the  still  after  the  alcohol  is  recovered,  for  every  portion  of 
four  parts  of  the  drug.  Cool  the  residue,  and  to  it  add  sulphuric  acid  in 
slight  excess,  and  then  its  bulk  of  water,  and  after  twenty-four  hours 
filter  the  supernatant  liquid.  Evaporate  the  filtrate  to  a  creamy  con- 
sistence, make  it  alkaline  with  ammonia,  and  abstract  the  alkaloid 
from  it  by  rotations  with  chloroform.  Evaporate  the  chloroform 
and  abstract  the  alkaloid  from  the  viscid  dark  residue  by  means  of 
dilute  sulphuric  acid  ( 1  in  50).  Filter,  make  the  filtrate  alkaline 
with  ammonia,  and  again  abstract  by  chloroformic  rotations.  Repeat 
this  operation  until  the  material  that  is  carried  forward  is  soluble 
in  both  chloroform  and  diluted  sulphuric  acid.  It  is  still  of  a  dark 
color. 
When  this  point  is  reached,  evaporate  the  chloroform  solution, 
and  when  the  residue  becomes  of  a  viscid  condition  abstract  it  with 
boiling  sulphuric  ether,  U.  S.  P.  1890.  Decant  the  ether  and  con- 
tinue the  abstraction  of  the  residue  with  successive  portions  of  boil- 
ing ether  until  it  is  exhausted.  Evaporate  the  mixed  ethereal  solu- 
tions, which  will  yield  the  alkaloid  in  yellowish  minute  crystals. 
Purify  by  solution  and  crystallization  from  boiling  anhydrous 
alcohol  when  the  alkaloid  will  be  obtained  pure  and  colorless.1 
Properties. — This  alkaloid,  to  which  I  have  ventured  to  affix  the 
name  solnine  in  order  to  give  it  an  existence  in  literature,  is  in  the 
form  of  white,  brilliant  crystals  (see  Fig.  A),  and  is  practically  insol- 
1  This  method  is  the  process  of  discovery,  circuitous  as  compared  with 
methods  that  can  be  evolved  now  that  the  alkaloidal  character  has  been 
established. 
