Am.  jour.  Pharm.  i        Chemistry  of  the  Duboisias.  *c 
January,  1918.    >  J     i  jo 
of  i-hyoscyamine  during  the  isolation  of  the  alkaloids.  The  dexter- 
isomer  has  been  prepared  synthetically,  and  is  devoid  of  mydriatic 
properties.  Atropine  has  about  one  half  of  the  activity  of  the 
lsevo-isomer  on  the  eye,  as  it  is  made  up  of  equal  parts  of  the 
two  isomers.  Scopolamine,  which  is  known  commercially  as  hyo- 
scine,  is  also  an  optically  active  substance.  The  natural  variety  is 
lsevo-rotary,  while  the  inactive  form  is  readily  prepared  by  race- 
mization.  The  laevo-variety  is  more  powerful  pharmacologically 
than  the  dextro  form. 
Nor-hyoscy amine  is  chemically  isomeric  with  hyoscy amine,  but 
differs  from  it  in  the  arrangement  of  certain  groups.  The  name 
nor-hyoscyamine  was  given  by  Merck,  and  solandrine  was  given  by 
Dr.  J.  M.  Petrie,  who  isolated  this  alkaloid  from  Solandra  Icevis.  Its 
pharmacological  action  has  not  been  described,  but  experiments 
made  in  the  University  of  Sydney  show  that  it  behaves  like  atropine. 
Among  the  plants  of  the  Solanaceae  growing  in  Australia  are 
three  species  of  Duboisia.  Duboisia  myoporoides  is  an  evergreen 
tree,  ranging  through  the  coastal  district  of  eastern  Australia  from 
Cape  York  to  the  Shoalhaven  River.  In  1877  Bancroft,  of  Bris- 
bane, published  an  account  of  the  action  of  aqueous  extracts  of  the 
leaves  of  this  tree.  He  paid  much  attention  to  the  mydriatic  proper- 
ties of  these  extracts,  which  were  used  in  ophthalmic,  practice  in 
Brisbane.  Bancroft  took  several  pounds  of  the  extract  to  England 
in  1878.  Gerrard  separated  the  alkaloid  in  a  purer  state  from  this 
material,  and  concluded  that  it  differed  from  atropine.  Ringer  and 
Murell  observed  the  dilatation  of  the  pupil  of  the  eye,  the  arrest  of 
the  perspiration,  the  antagonism  to  muscarine,  the  production  of 
tetanus  in  frogs  and  the  onset  of  headache  and  of  drowsiness  in 
man.  They  believed  the  new  alkaloid  to  be  different  from  atropine. 
Ladenburg  obtained  the  crystalline  gold  chloride  of  hyoscyamine 
and  from  a  commercial  sample  of  duboisine  sulphate.  Some  years 
later,  from  another  sample,  Ladenburg  prepared  the  gold  salt  of 
scopolamine.  In  1892  E.  Merck  isolated  a  new  alkaloid,  which  he 
named  pseudo-hyoscyamine.  In  1912  Carr  and  Reynolds  obtained 
from  D.  myoporoides  1.1  per  cent,  of  hyoscyamine  and  0.15  per 
cent,  of  nor-hyoscyamine  identical  with  pseudo-hyoscyamine.  Dr. 
J.  M.  Petrie  recently  examined  a  sample  of  duboisine  sulphate  be- 
longing to  the  physiological  laboratory  of  the  University  of  Sydney. 
It  yielded  1  -hyoscyamine,  1 -scopolamine  and  nor-hyoscyamine. 
