562 
ON  SCILLITIN. 
contains  the  following  substances,  viz.,  vegetable  mucilage  30;  sugar  15  ; 
tannin  8 ;  acid  red  coloring  matter  10  ;  yellow  odorous  acid  coloring  mat- 
ter 2;  fatty  matter  1;  scillitin  1;  iodine  traces;  salts  5. — Editor  Am. 
JOURN.  PHARM.] 
M.  Marais  has  devoted  the  fifth  chapter  of  his  work  to  the 
recapitulation  of  the  numerous  attempts  which  he  made,  before 
succeeding,  in  isolating  the  active  principle  of  the  squill,  to 
showing  the  best  method  of  obtaining  it,  and  of  defining  its 
characteristics. 
Struck  with  the  persistence  of  the  acid  reactions  of  the  active 
principle  of  the  squill,  which  he  found  in  all  the  products  of  the 
analysis,  by  means  of  the  bitter  taste  which  characterises  it,  he 
has  supposed  that  it  exists  in  the  plant  in  a  state  analogous  to 
a  salt,  and  that  the  intervention  of  an  alkaline  base  would  be 
necessary  to  its  elimination.  These  various  considerations  have 
led  him  to  the  following  process : — 
Prepare  a  concentrated  tincture  of  squill  with  alcohol,  at 
0«90  or  at  0-56,  according  to  whether  the  squill  is  fresh  or  dry. 
This  tincture  is  precipitated  with  clear  milk  of  lime,  and  on  to 
the  whole  is  poured  a  sufficient  quantity  of  ether  to  form,  when 
the  mixture  is  agitated  and  suffered  to  stand,  a  magma  covered 
with  a  certain  quantity  of  alcoholic  and  ethereal  liquor,  which  is 
immediately  decanted.  The  magma  is  washed  with  fresh  ether 
until  it  has  lost  all  its  bitterness.  The  united  liquors  are 
distilled,  until  there  only  remains  in  the  retort  the  alcohol, 
with  the  scillitine  and  a  little  fatty  matter.  This  solution 
evaporated  as  rapidly  as  possible  at  a  gentle  heat,  leaves  a 
residue,  which  is  taken  up  again  with  alcohol  at  90°  to  dissolve 
the  scillitine,  and  eliminate  the  fatty  matter  ;  the  bitter  liquor, 
evaporated  in  its  turn  to  complete  dessication,  leaves  the  scilli- 
tine, which  is  removed  in  little  lamellae,  and  immediately  put 
into  a  well  closed  phial. 
There  only  appears  to  be  about  one  per  cent,  of  scillitine  in 
the  squill.  It  is  uncrystallizable,  hygrometric  without  being 
deliquescent,  because  insoluble  in  w  ater ;  it  is  very  soluble  in 
alcohol  and  ether  without  heat.  It  is  in  pale  yellow  semi- 
transparent  lamellae ;  if,  after  being  dissolved  in  a  little  alcohol 
it  is  precipitated  by  water,  it  is  deposited  very  wThite,  but  it 
retakes  its  color  and  semi-transparency  by  dessication.    It  has  a 
