VERATRUM  VIRIDE. 
207 
Experiment  6th. — A  small  quantity  of  the  aqueous  solution 
obtained  from  the  root  was  treated  with  bichromate  of  potassa, 
which  produced  a  reddish  brown  precipitate;  after  the  subsidence 
of  this,  the  supernatant  liquid  was  poured  off,  and  about  an  ounce 
of  water  added  for  the  purpose  of  washing  the  residue  ;  it  was, 
however,  nearly  or  quite  dissolved  in  that  amount  of  menstruum. 
The  first  of  these  experiments  being  merely  a  corroboration  of 
Mr.  Worthington's  process,  will  require  no  comment.  Thinking 
that  if,  as  Dr.  Osgood  supposed,  the  active  principle  was  a  vola- 
tile one,  a  part  might  be  driven  off  by  the  heat  used  in  evapora- 
tion, the  acetic  acid  employed  in  the  second  experiment  was  ad- 
ded to  prevent,  by  forming  a  salt  with  any  uncombined  alkaloid, 
such  a  loss,  as  well  as  to  assist  the  extraction  from  the  plant. 
Third  and  fourth  experiments  are  based  respectively  upon  the 
power  which  chloroform  and  benzole  both  have  of  dissolving  the 
alkaloids ;  while  the  fifth  was  an  attempt  to  apply  the  principle 
of  a  recently  published  English  process  for  preparing  strychnia 
to  the  extraction  of  this  substance. 
The  process  by  the  aid  of  benzole  having  given  the  most  satis- 
factory result,  a  quantity  of  the  contused  root  was  macerated  for 
sixty  hours  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid ;  the  dregs  were  then  ex- 
pressed strongly,  stirred  up  with  another  portion  of  water  and 
again  expressed  ;  the  liquids  were  filtered  without  concentration, 
and  precipitated  by  ammonia,  the  precipitate  filtered  off,  washed 
and  dissolved  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  and  again  precipitated  by 
ammonia ;  the  liquid  without  filtration  was  then  agitated  with 
twenty-four  fluidounces  of  benzole,  the  two  layers  allowed  to 
separate,  by  standing  and  the  benzolic  solution  washed  until  color- 
less ;  this  solution  itself  divided  into  two  portions,  the  one  clear 
and  limpid,  and  the  other  white  and  opaque,  very  much  resembling 
thick  cream  ;  these  were  then  separately  evaporated  by  the  heat 
of  a  water  bath,  when  the  creamy  liquid  was  found  in  reality  to 
contain  nearly  all  the  valuable  matter,  the  clear  portion  leaving 
scarcely  any  residue.  The  substance  produced  by  the  evaporation 
of  these  solutions  was  of  a  white  color  with  a  slight  tinge  of  red, 
and  dissolved  readily  in  sulphuric  acid,  with  the  exception  of  a 
small  amount  of  resin ;  this  solution,  after  being  filtered,  was 
precipitated  by  ammonia,  the  precipitate  washed,  and  when  care- 
fully dried  was  found  to  weigh  fourteen  grains. 
