Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Nov.,  1885.  j 
Adonis  Venialis. 
577 
distinct  chalaza ;  no  endosperm  ;  cotyledons  very  large,  in  the  fresh 
condition  "fleshy  and  white. 
Only  the  cotyledons  are  met  with  in  commerce.  They  are  3  to  4 
centimetres  long,  1*5  to  2*5  centimetres  broad,  longish  ovate,  rounded 
on  one  side ;  on  the  other  side,  straight  or  even  somewhat  reniform 
indented,  ridged  on  the  outer  surface,  smooth  on  the  inner.  At  one 
end  the  cotyledons  are  notched  in  a  peculiar  manner,  a  fissure  that 
begins  nearly  at  the  top  of  the  ridged  side  running  right  and  left  for 
about  1^  centimetres  and  separating  two  semicircular  pieces  of  about 
2  millimetres  in  diameter.  To  this  notch  corresponds  a  point  on  the 
inner  flat  side  of  the  cotyledon,  which,  according  to  Yogi,  is  the  resi- 
due of  the  radicle.  In  a  transverse  section  are  seen  upon  the  convex 
side  five  or  six  faint  vascular  bundles  ;  the  remainder  of  the  tissue 
consists  of  uniform  polyhedric  cells,  which  appear  to  be  pressed 
together  and  elongated  tangentially.  The  contents  consist  of  tolerably 
large  roundish  oval  starch  granules.  In  addition  albumen  can  be 
detected,  especially  in  a  layer  lying  next  the  cell  wall,  and  traces  of  fat. 
— Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  Aug.  8,  1885,  p.  127,  from  the  Archiv 
der  Pharmacie,  cciii,  249. 
ADONIS  VERNALIS  AND  ADONIDI^^^^ 
By  Jehax  Mordagxe. 
The  Adonis  vernalis,  nearly  unknown  in  modern  therapeutics  until 
recent  years,  has  been  rescued  from  oblivion  by  the  clinical  and  phy- 
siological experiments  of  Bubnoff,  in  1880,  and  the  researches  of  Cer- 
vello,  in  1882,  upon  the  active  principle  of  the  plant  and  its  physio- 
logical action.  As  a  result,  the  plant  has  been  utilized  as  a  substitute 
for  digitalis  in  the  treatment  of  afl^ections  of  the  heart. 
Taking  up  the  'researches  of  M.  Linderos,  who  had  detected  the 
presence  of  aconitic  acid  in  the  plant  in  the  state  of  aconitate  of  lime 
and  of  potash,  and  those  of  Dr.  Cervello,  who  discovered  in  it  a  new 
glucoside  that  he  named  adonidin,"  the  author  of  the  present  paper 
has  occupied  himself  principally  with  the  latter  body. 
The  parts  of  the  plant  operated  upon  were  the  leaves  and  stalks, 
and  the  process  is  described  as  follows.    The  leaves  and  stalks,  after 
^Abstract  of  a  paper  published  in  the  "  Bulletin  de  la  Societe  de  Pljar- 
macie  du  Sud-Ouest  "  for  July. 
37 
