236  Crystalline  alkaloid  of  Aconitum  Napellus.  {Am^i8^arm' 
The  leaves  and  seeds  of  the  Pangium  contain  a  substance  which 
reduces  ammoniacal  silver  solution  and  Fehling's  solution  in  the 
cold,  and  whose  solutions  become  dark-colored  in  the  '  air. 
Although  no  crystalline  compound  could  be  obtained  with  phenyl- 
hydrazine,  it  is  probably  a  sugar,  with  which  the  hydrocyanic  acid 
forms  an  unstable  compound.  The  seeds,  which  are  originally 
white,  gradually  become  dark,  the  hydrocyanic  acid  disappearing 
at  the  same  time. 
The  only  poisonous  constituent  of  the  genus  Hydnocarpus  is  also 
hydrocyanic  acid.  The  fatty  oils  of  certain  species  of  Hydnocarpus 
are  used  externally  in  skin  diseases,  their  value  being  possibly 
due  to  the  antiseptic  action  of  hydrocyanic  acid. 
ON  THE  CRYSTALLINE  ALKALOID   OF  ACONITUM 
NAPELLUS.1 
By  Wyndham  R.  Dunstan  and  W.  H.  Ince,  Ph.D. 
From  the  Research  Laboratory  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society. 
The  authors  have  investigated  the  properties  of  a  crystalline 
alkaloid  obtained  from  the  root  of  Aconitum  Napellus  by  extraction 
with  amyl  alcohol,  as  suggested  by  the  late  Mr.  John  Williams 
{Pharm.  Journ.  [3]  xviii,  238).    For  a  supply  of  the  material  they 
are  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Messrs.  Howards  &  Sons,  of  Strat- 
ford. 
The  yellowish  indistinct  crystals  melted  at  188-4°  (corr.)  and  by 
crystallization  from  alcoholic  solution  were  proved  to  be  associated 
with  a  small  quantity  of  a  gummy  amorphous  base.  On  combus- 
tion the  original  substance  gave  numbers  agreeing  fairly  well  with 
the  formula  C33H43N012  which  is  that  proposed  for  aconitine  by 
Wright  and  Luff  (y<?&r/z.  Chem.  Soc,  1879).  The  alkaloid  was  puri- 
fied by  repeated  crystallization  from  a  mixture  of  alcohol  and  ether, 
or  more  readily  by  conversion  into  its  hydrobromide  and  regenera- 
tion of  the  alkaloid  from  this  salt  or  by  regeneration  from  its  crys- 
talline aurochloride.  It  crystallizes  in  tabular  prisms  belonging  to 
the  rhombic  system ;  the  crystallography  of  the  substance  has 
formed  the  subject  of  a  separate  inquiry  by  Mr.  Tutton.  The 
crystals  are  very  slightly  soluble  in  water  and  light  petroleum,  more 
1  The  substance  of  a  communication  made  to  the  Chemical  Society,  March 
19  ;  reprinted  from  Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans. ,  March  21,  p.  857. 
