THE  PREPARATIONS  OF  CONIUM,  ETC. 
459 
directs  it  to  be  given  in  doses  of  from  2  to  6  grains.  Now, 
granting  that  this  preparation  retains  the  whole  of  the  active 
principle,  which,  from  my  examination  of  the  "  Succus,"  I  place 
at  1*4  grain  in  a  100  grains  ;  6  grains  of  the  extract  would 
represent  only  the  0*084  of  a  grain  of  conia, — a  quantity  insuffi- 
cient to  produce  the  effects  of  hemlock  in  a  child  two  years  old. 
The  physiological  action  of  hemlock  is  such,  that  doses  which 
fall  far  short  of  producing  it  are  of  no  use  ;  and  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  possession  of  an  extract  containing  1  per  cent,  of 
conia — which  I  believe  is  the  strongest  that  can  be  made — will 
be  of  any  advantage,  since  25  grains  of  it  would  be  equivalent 
to  only  f  giv  of  the  "  Succus  "  of  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
It  has  been  doubted  by  some  whether  the  Athenian  state  poison 
was  wholly  derived  from  the  hemlock ;  I  see  no  reason  myself — 
on  account  of  the  expression  "  puxpbv  ttoluu  xaraTioTcov,  a  very 
little  dose"* — for  doing  so.  The  inspissation  of  the  juice  was 
effected,  according  to  Dioscorides,  by  exposing  it  to  the  sun  ; 
and  by  this  means  a  syrup  may  be  prepared,  of  which,  assuming 
the  Greek  plant  to  be  equally  powerful  with  that  grown  in  these 
temperate  regions,  a  table-spoonful  or  two  would  doubtless  prove 
a  fatal  dose. 
I  will  conclude  these  remarks  by  the  following  particulars, 
which  will  serve  to  render  my  account  of  the  Succus  Conii,  No. 
1,  upon  which  I  have  chiefly  based  my  experiments,  more  com- 
plete, f  5 j  of  the  "  Succus  "  yields  six  grains  of  white  ash, 
which  fuses  with  effervescence  before  the  blow-pipe  into  a  por- 
cellaneous mass,  dissolves  with  copious  effervescence  in  the 
mineral  acids,  and  the  clear  acid  solution  gives  an  abundant 
heavy  yellow  crystalline  precipitate  with  bichloride  of  platinum. 
Hence  it  follows  that  the  juice  contains  one  or  more  vegetable 
acids  and  potash. 
It  is  to  be  observed  that  Schraderf  makes  no  mention  of  either 
soda  or  sugar  in  his  analysis  of  the  juice,  and  that  he,  De  Machy 
and  ErrhardtJ  mention  nitric  acid  as  one  of  its  constituents.  I 
*  Theofrastos,  Hist.  Plant,  iv.  viii.  p.  298,  ed.  Schneider, 
f  Berzelius,  "Traite  de  Chimie,"  vol.  vi.  p.  254.    Berlin  Jahrbuch, 
1805,  s.  152. 
X  Bertrand,  op.  cit.  p.  306. 
