ON  SCILLITIN. 
563 
penetrating  intensely  bitter  taste,  which  is  increased  by  the 
presence  of  water. 
Concentrated  sulphuric  acid  dissolves  scillitine,  causing  a 
beautiful  violet  color,  exactfy  similar  to  that  which  the  same  acid 
produces  with  cod-liver  oil.  Water  instantly  causes  the  disap- 
pearance of  this  color,  and  the  deposition  of  a  green  precipitate. 
If,  after  adding  a  very  little  water  more  sulphuric  acid  is  added, 
the  original  color  reappears. 
Concentrated  nitric  acid  dissolves  scillitine,  causing  a  bright 
red  color,  which  disappears  quickly.  The  addition  of  water 
forms  no  precipitate.  Whether  concentrated  or  weak,  hydro- 
chloric acid  does  not  dissolve  scillitine,  and  gives  no  character- 
istic reaction.  Hydrated  alkalies  disengage  ammonia  from 
scillitine,  and  thus  show  that  it  contains  nitrogen. 
Concentrated  solutions  of  ammonia  and  potassa  do  not  dissolve 
scillitine,  but  they  decompose  it  and  remove  its  bitterness.  It 
gives  a  pale  yellow  precipitate  with  tannin  ;  with  perchloride  of 
iron,  an  orange  precipitate ;  with  perchloride  of  platinum,  a 
*     yellow  precipitate. 
Projected  on  a  sheet  of  platinum  heated  to  redness,  it  liquifies, 
turns  brown,  catches  light,  swells  up,  becomes  black,  and  dis- 
appears without  leaving  any  residue. 
Scillitine  resembles  the  alkaloids  in  many  points,  which  further 
experiments  will  doubtless  render  evident.  Its  reaction  is 
alkaline,  it  contains  nitrogen  and  forms  a  combination  with 
acetic  acid. 
Scillitine  has  been  the  subject  of  several  toxicological  studies 
made  by  Dr.  Gosselin,  assisted  by  M.  Adrien  Bussy.  These 
experiments  have  given  the  following  results  : — 
1.  That  Scillitine  has  all  the  characters  of  the  acro-narcotic 
poisons  described  by  Orfila. 
2.  That  it  is  very  poisonous  in  the  dose  of  five  centigrammes, 
and  causes  a  strong  inflammation  of  the  digestive  apparatus,  even 
in  the  dose  of  from  three  to  four  centigrammes. 
3.  That  when  injected  into  the  oesophagus,  its  first  effect  is  to 
produce  vomiting  and  violent  purging  ;  narcotism  then  mani- 
fests itself,  and  death  appears  to  ensue  from  paralysis  of  the 
heart. 
4.  That  scillitine,  applied  by  the  endermic  method,  acts  much 
