2  28  Comments  on  Magendie's  Formulary,   j^""-  ^°^^rS^\9^\ 
above  formulas  for  preparations  that:  "It  is  necessary  to  shake  the 
mixture  every  time  it  is  used,  lest  great  inconvenience  arise  from  the 
acid  being  accumulated  on  the  surface." 
Solanine  is  described  as  being  obtained  from  Solanum  Nigrum 
and  Solanum  Dulcamara.  It  is  stated  to  produce  vomiting  and  sleep 
but  that  it  had  not  yet  been  employed  as  a  remedy  in  disease. 
Atropine  is  stated  to  have  been  discovered  in  belladonna  by 
Brandes,  a  contemporary  and  co-worker  of  Vauquelin,  who  is  also 
stated  to  have  discovered  Daturine  in  stramonium  and  Hyoscyamine 
in  henbane.    It  is  stated  of  atropine  that: 
"When  M.  Brandes  was  experimenting  on  this  alkali  he  was 
obliged  to  desist  in  consequence  of  violent  headaches,  pains  in  the 
back,  and  giddiness,  with  frequent  nausea,  which  the  vapor  of 
atropine  occasioned;  it  had,  indeed,  so  injurious  an  effect  upon  his 
health  that  he  has  entirely  abstained  from  any  further  experiments,, 
and  no  one  has  hitherto  repeated  them.  *  *  *  Even  the  vapor  of 
the  various  salts  of  atropine  produces  vertigo.  *  *  *  When  he 
tasted  the  salt  of  atropine  the  dilatation  of  the  eye  followed  to  so 
great  a  degree  that  it  persisted  for  twelve  hours  and  was  not  in- 
fluenced by  the  different  shades  of  light." 
Delpkinine  is  described  as  having  been  separated  from  stavesacre 
seeds  by  M.  M,  Fenuelle  and  Lassaigne  in  1819.  It  had  not  been 
used  as  a  medicine. 
Picrotoxine  is  credited  to  Boullay  for  its  discovery  and  is  described 
as  being  alkaline  in  character,  a  statement  not  in  agreement  with 
the  fact  as  we  know  it. 
Gentianine  is  also  described  as  a  vegetable  alkali  and  M.  Henry 
and  M.  Caventou  are  stated  to  have  discovered  it  simultaneously 
and  independently.  This  calls  for  the  following  comment  from  the 
author : 
"This  fact  is  doubly  remarkable — first,  because  it  proves  how 
perfect  the  means  of  analyzing  vegetables  have  become;  and,  sec- 
ondly, because  it  shows  the  change  which  the  progress  of  science  has 
made  in  those  who  follow  scientific  pursuits.  One  hundred  years  ago, 
such  a  coincidence  would  have  produced  a  violent  quarrel,  whilst 
now  it  only  induces  a  feeling  of  joy  in  those  who  find  their  discoveries 
confirmed  by  others." 
