220  Solatium  Carolinense,  {AmM°ay*'i?9L^m' 
I  have  already  referred  to  the  presence  of  an  alkaloid  in  the 
ethereal  extract  of  the  root  and  leaves,  and  now  confirm  my  pre- 
vious statement,  after  having  been  able  to  extract  a  small  amount 
for  experiments.  The  alkaloid  is  soluble  in  alcohol  and  ether.  It 
is  precipitated  by  iodine  and  by  Mayer's  solution.  It  does  not 
reduce  Fehling's  solution,  even  after  boiling  with  dilute  acid.  This 
alkaloid  appears  to  be  solanidine. 
The  alcoholic  extract  contains  the  organic  acid  and  alkaloid  pre- 
viously referred  to. 
The  weight  of  the  alkaloidal  precipitate  with  Mayer's  reagent, 
expressed  in  percentage  of  dried  fruit,  is  I  per  cent. 
The  following  experiment  will  illustrate  the  identity  of  this 
alkaloid  with  solanine  : 
The  alcoholic  extract  contained  0-988  per  cent,  glucose. 
After  boiling  with  dilute  acid,  an  amount  of  glucose  correspond- 
ing to  r/84  per  cent,  was  found. 
The  polariscope  failed  to  indicate  the  presence  of  any  saccharose. 
It,  therefore,  can  be  explained,  that  the  alkaloid  (solanine),  acted  on 
by  dilute  acid,  was  split  up  into  glucose  and  solanidine;  this 
glucose  causing  the  increase  in  weight  of  Cuo0. 
The  aqueous  extract  contains  a  considerable  amount  of  albumen. 
It  may  be  stated  here  that  the  solution  after  two  days'  standing  con- 
tained innumerable  quantities  of  Bacterium  termo,  the  size  of  which 
was  found  to  be  considerably  larger  than  ever  noticed  in  solutions 
of  animal  albumen.  Such  vegetable  liquids  afford  splendid  oppor- 
tunities for  the  study  of  these  organisms,  causing  what  is  known  as 
putrefaction. 
The  hydrochloric  acid  solution  contained  no  stardi  and  nothing 
reducible  by  Fehling's  solution.  Iodine  caused  a  brown  precipitate, 
and  HgCl.,  a  white  flocculent  precipitate.  The  cellulose  and 
incrusting  matter  amounted  to  43  044  per  cent.  Kahn's  15  percent, 
of  cellulose  must  have  been  obtained  under  different  circumstances. 
Summarizing  the  results  now  obtained  by  me,  it  will  be  fair  to 
state,  that  all  parts  of  Solanum  carolinense,  from  root  to  fruit,  con- 
tain the  alkaloid  solanine  and  probably  also  solanidine,  combined 
with  an  organic  acid,  which  seems  to  be  new,  in  which  case  it  should 
be  called  solanic  acid. 
The  chemical  results  show  that  from  the  physiological  point  of 
view,  the  horse  nettle  might  well  have  been  expected  to  act  favor- 
