NOTE  ON  THE  COLCHICUM  AUTUMNALE. 
237 
Colchiceine  appears  to  be  capable  of  combining  with  baryta  ; 
if  saturated  solutions  of  hydrate  of  baryta  and  colchiceine  in 
methylic  alcohol  be  mixed  together,  a  voluminous  precipitate  is 
soon  formed ;  this  is  gelatinous  and  soluble  in  wood-spirit,  and 
even  in  an  excess,  of  the  solution  of  baryta. 
Colchiceine  is  unalterable  in  the  air,  and  has  no  action  upon 
red  or  blue  litmus-paper.  When  exposed  in  a  tube  to  the  heat 
of  the  oil-bath,  it  softens  at  first,  and  fuses  at  311°  F.  ;  if  the 
temperature  be  raised,  it  becomes  colored  at  about  392°  F. 
When  heated  upon  a  platinum  plate,  it  fuses,  acquires  a  yellow- 
ish color,  and  burns,  leaving  only  a  trace  of  a  spot  which  has  no 
action  upon  moistened  test-papers.  When  heated  with  caustic 
potash,  it  evolves  a  gas  which  renders  reddened  litmus-paper 
blue.  When  calcined  with  potassium,  according  to  the  process 
of  M.  Lassaigne,  a  residue  is  obtained,  which,  treated  with  a 
solution  of  a  sesquisalt  of  iron  and  afterwards  with  muriatic  acid, 
furnishes  a  blue  liquid,  the  deposit  from  which  is  prussian  blue. 
The  presence  of  nitrogen  being  proved  by  these  two  experi- 
ments, I  submitted  colchiceine  to  elementary  analysis,  with  the 
following  results  :■ — 
Calculation.    Experiment  (average). 
c 
62-83 
62-669 
H 
6-60 
6-560 
N 
4-19 
4-298 
0 
26-38 
26473 
Pre-existence  of  Colchiceine  in  the  Seeds  of  Co Ichicum .—As 
this  substance  might  be  the  result  of  the  action  of  reagents  upon 
the  normal  materials  of  the  seeds  of  the  Colchicum,  I  endeavored 
to  ascertain  its  pre-existence,  and  believe  I  have  succeeded  by 
proceeding  in  the  following  manner  : — 
I  dissolved  the  alcoholic  extract  of  the  seeds  of  Colchicum, 
previously  freed  from  oil  and  starchy  matter,  in  alcohol  and  de- 
colorized it  by  well-washed  charcoal ;  after  filtration,  the  char- 
coal was  treated  repeatedly  with  boiling  alcohol,  which  was  added 
to  the  first  liquid.  The  syrupous  extract  which  remained  after 
distillation,  when  dissolved  in  water  and  slightly  acidulated  with 
very  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  gives  rise  to  a  flocculent  precipitate  ; 
the  liquid,  when  filtered  and  left  for  some  weeks,  produces  the 
warty  crystals  previously  described.  These  crystallize  in  alcohol, 
and  are  identical  with  colchiceine. 
