ON  THE  SEEDS  OF  STRYCHNOS  IGNATIA. 
297 
was  gradually  dissipated.  From  the  foregoing  phenomena,  it 
is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  beans  contain  a  volatile  principle 
(probably  an  oil)  which,  when  exposed  to  the  air,  absorbs  oxygen, 
and  in  this  respect  resembling  the  volatile  oils. 
Alcoholic  Extract, — Several  methods  have  lately  been  proposed 
for  the  preparation  of  this  extract,  all  amounting  to  the  same 
thing,  the  only  precaution  being  to  insure  a  complete  exhaustion 
of  the  beans,  and  a  careful  evaporation. 
From  thirty-five  hundred  grains  of  the  beans  I  obtained  three 
hundred  and  eighty-eight  grains,  or  about  eleven  per  cent,  of  ex- 
tract. The  extract  is  of  a  dark  brown  appearance,  and  has  a 
strong,  not  unpleasant  odor,  very  analogous  to  the  odor  of  the 
distillate  mentioned  in  a  previous  article.  This  extract  is  very 
powerful ;  half  a  grain  dissolved  in  a  drachm  of  alcohol,  proved 
fatal  to  a  small  cat  in  the  space  of  three  or  four  minutes,  with 
all  the  symptoms  of  poisoning  by  strychnia. 
Is  starch  present  in  the  beans  f — According  to  the  analysis  of 
Pelletier  and  Caventou  starch  is  said  by  them  to  be  a  constituent 
of  the  beans.  For  the  purpose  of  corroborating  this  statement, 
a  decoction  was  prepared  by  boiling  half  an  ounce  of  the  contused 
beans  in  a  pint  of  water  down  to  half  a  pint.  A  portion  of  this 
decoction,  when  cool,  was  tested  with  a  solution  of  iodine,  but 
without  success. 
To  be  better  satisfied,  a  still  more  delicate  test  was  employed, 
viz. :  by  adding  to  this  decoction  a  few  drops  of  nitric  acid,  and 
to  this  a  solution  of  the  iodide  of  potassium ;  the  acid  united 
with  the  potassium  to  form  nitrate  of  potassa,  and  thus  the  iodine 
was  set  free,  coating  the  sides  of  the  tube,  without  producing  the 
deep  blue  color  so  characteristic  of  the  presence  of  starch. 
Grum — The  gummy  matter  obtained  by  precipitation  by 
alcohol,  in  the  process  employed  for  isolating  the  strychnia,  was 
carefully  collected  and  dried,  and  found  to  weigh  three  hundred 
grains.  This  was  very  adhesive,  and  resembled  true  gum  in  every 
particular,  devoid  of  taste,  soluble  in  water,  but  insoluble  in 
alcohol.  A  solution  of  the  subacetate  of  lead  added  to  a  solution 
of  the  gum,  produced  a  dense  precipitate  which  was  redissolved 
by  an  excess  of  acetic  acid. 
A  small  amount  of  fatty  matter  or  fixed  oil  exists  in  the  beans, 
soluble  in  alcohol  and  ether. 
