Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1894. 
Solnine. 
i65 
to  the  same  crystallographic  system  and  had  the  same  crystallo- 
graphic  contacts.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  sides  of  the  long  or  rod. 
like  crystals  A,  average  about  the  same  as  those  of  the  shorter  form 
B,  the  difference  being  simply  in  the  length  of  the  parallel  sides." 
On  reviewing  the  literature  of  the  subject  it  is  found  that  in  1890, 
Mr.  G.  A.  Krauss1  made  a  chemical  examination,  establishing  the 
presence  of  an  alkaloid  soluble  in  ether  and  petroleum  ether,  and 
another  that  was  left  in  the  abstracted  drug,  and  was  taken  there- 
from by  alcohol.  He  accepted  that  these  alkaloids  were  different, 
although  he  obtained  so  little  of  the  ether  soluble  alkaloid  as  to 
scarcely  render  a  decision  positive.  The  alcohol  soluble  alkaloid 
was  in  his  opinion  identical  with  solanine. 
In  1 89 1, 2  Mr.  Krauss  continued  the  subject  by  an  examination  of 
the  leaves  of  the  plant,  failing  therefrom  to  obtain  an  ether  soluble 
alkaloid.  However,  he  obtained  an  alcohol  soluble  alkaloid  which 
he  also  identified  as  solanine  by  color  reactions. 
In  the  same  year3  Mr.  Harry  Kahn  obtained  evidences  of  an  alka- 
loidal  reaction,  from  this  drug  by  means  of  the  Parsons'  scheme  of 
analysis,  but  did  not  obtain  the  alkaloid. 
Again  Mr.  Krauss4  contributed  a  paper  on  the  analysis  of  the 
berries,  obtaining  therefrom  an  alkaloid  resembling  the  specimens 
previously  determined  as  existing  in  the  leaves  and  root  of  the  plant. 
The  contributions  of  Mr.  Krauss  demonstrate  that  to  his  credit 
should  be  placed  the  establishing  of  the  alkaloidal  nature  of  Sola- 
num  Carolinense.  Whether  either  his  or  my  alkaloid  is  identical 
with  solanine  is  perhaps  not  thoroughly  demonstrated,  and  I  prefer 
until  it  is  obtained  in  large  amount  and  established  positively  to 
allow  the  name  solnine  to  remain  conditionally  attached  to  the  sub- 
stance described  in  this  paper. 
Having  never  made  a  study  of  solanine,  I  am  not  prepared  to 
decide  concerning  the  identity  of  solnine  and  that  substance.  If 
Wittstein's  description  is  correct,  they  are  different.  He  describes 
solanine  as  "flat,  quadrangular  crystals." 
Solnine  crystals  are  not  flat,  although  variations  in  crystalline 
form  within  one  system  is  not  conclusive  evidence. 
1  Am.  Journ.  Pharm.,  1890,  p.  601. 
2  Am.  Journ.  Pharm.,  1891,  p.  65. 
3  Am.  Journ.  Pharm.,  1891,  p.  126. 
4  Am.  Journ.  Pharm.,  1891,  p.  216. 
