VERATRUM  VIRIDE. 
205 
yet  published  is  that  comprised  in  an  inaugural  essay  by  Henry 
W.  "Worthington,  contained  in  the  tenth  volume  of  the  Journal 
above  mentioned ;  in  addition  to  the  other  proximate  principles 
he  also  obtained  a  white  powder,  soluble  in  acids,  and  powerfully 
errhine  when  brought  in  contact  with  the  lining  membrane  of  the 
nose,  corresponding  in  these  respects  with  the  alkaloid  veratria ; 
but  the  quantity  prepared  appears  to  have  been,  as  in  the  other 
instances,  too  small  to  admit  of  the  application  of  a  series  of 
chemical  tests. 
These  experiments,  conflicting  as  they  do  in  their  results  with 
those  of  Dr.  Osgood,  appear  to  require  at  least  a  careful  repeti- 
tion in  order  to  be  conclusive,  and  the  increasing  knowledge  of 
the  valuable  medical  properties  of  this  plant  in  the  treatment  of 
neuralgia  and  rheumatism,  seem  to  demand  a  more  complete  and 
thorough  analysis  ;  that  the  reply  to  the  question,  Does  Veratrum 
viride  contain  veratria  ?  may  be  no  longer  a  conjectural  one. 
To  furnish  a  decisive  answer  to  this  inquiry  is  the  chief  object  of 
the  present  article ;  and  this  end  is,  I  think,  to  be  obtained  only 
by  a  careful  application  of  those  chemical  tests  which  distinguish 
the  alkaloid  veratria,  as  many  instances  occur  where  bodies  pre- 
cisely similar  as  far  as  the  senses  are  competent  to  decide,  differ 
totally  in  their  chemical  reactions. 
With  this  necessarily  somewhat  prolonged  introduction  I  will 
now  proceed  with  a  detail  of  the  experiments  upon  the  alkaloid, 
premising  that  as  the  other  proximate  principles  are  of  compara- 
tively little  importance,  (as  determined  by  former  operators,)  I 
shall  confine  my  attention  wholly  to  the  supposed  veratria.  In 
the  first  place  a  series  of  experiments  was  undertaken  to  dis- 
cover the  best  method  for  obtaining  the  active  principle,  as  fol- 
lows : 
Experiment  1st — A  portion  of  the  root  properly  bruised,  was 
macerated  with  sufficient  water  to  cover  it,  for  three  days,  the 
mass  was  then  transferred  to  a  percolator,  and  water  poured  on 
until  the  fluid  passed  nearly  tasteless  and  about  six  pints  of  liquid 
had  been  obtained.  This  solution  was  treated  with  liquor  plumbi 
subacetatis  until  no  further  precipitate  was  produced,  and  into 
the  clear  liquid  separated  from  the  precipitate  a  stream  of  sul- 
phuretted hydrogen  was  passed  until  sulphuret  of  lead  ceased  to 
be  formed,  and  the  liquid  had  the  characteristic  odor  of  the  gas  ; 
