THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARjrfX^**; 
  !    NOV  1  1894^ 
NO VEMBER,  18Q4.  PATENT  ^% 
NOTES  ON  SOME  OF  THE  CHEMICAL  PROPERTIES  OF 
Several  different  alkaloidal  substances  or  principles  have  been 
discovered  as  existing  in  the  mydriatic  plants ;  but  it  is  now  gen- 
erally conceded,  especially  through  the  researches  of  Ladenburg, 
that  these  consist  of  three  distinct  isomeric  bodies,  having  in  com- 
mon the  formula  C2  7H2 3N03,  and  named  respectively  Atropine, 
Hyoscy amine  and  Hyoscine,  the  last  named  being  found  only  in 
hyoscyamus  niger,  associated  with  hyoscyamine.  The  substances 
formerly  described  as  Daturine,  from  Datura  stramonium,  and 
Duboisine,  from  Duboisia  myoporoides,  are  now  considered  to  be 
identical  with  hyoscyamine. 
Atropine,  hyoscyamine  and  hyoscine  are  closely  allied  not  only  in 
their  chemical  composition,  but  also  in  their  physiological  effects 
and  their  general  chemical  properties,  yielding  much  the  same 
results  with  the  ordinary  reagents.  According  to  Ladenburg, 
atropine  fuses  at  1140  C,  hyoscyamine  at  1080  C.  In  the  free 
state,  hyoscine  forms  a  syrupy  liquid,  which,  with  acids,  forms  crys- 
tallizable  salts.  Other  differences  have  been  pointed  out  in  regard 
to  these  principles,  but  these  would  rarely  serve  for  discrimination 
in  ordinary  toxicological  investigations. 
In  the  following  comparative  examination  of  some  of  the  tests  for 
these  substances,  recent  samples  of  the  three  alkaloids  as  prepared 
by  Merck,  Trommsdorff,  and  by  Kahlbaum,  were  employed.  Only 
one  preparation,  however,  of  hyoscine  (Kahlbaum's)  was  exam- 
ined, this  being  in  the  crystalline  state,  as  hydrochloride. 
THE  MYDRIATIC  ALKALOIDS. 
By  Theodore  G.  Wormley,  M.D. 
(5i3) 
