IOO 
Scopola  Carniolica. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharin 
Feb.,  1890.  . 
cesses  for  isolating  the  various  constituents  and  determining 
their  properties. 
Of  the  known  mydriatic  alkaloids  Scopola  carniolica  is 
shown  to  contain  only  one  (hyoscyamine)  in  any  appreciable 
quantity ;  there  may  also  be  present  a  minute  amount  of 
hyoscine,  although  we  we  were  unable  to  conclusively  prove 
this  to  be  the  case.  Scopola  carniolica  appears  to  be  distin- 
guished from  other  plants  which  yield  mydriatic  alkaloids  in 
containing  hyoscyamine  in  an  almost,  if  not  quite,  pure  con- 
dition. It  must,  however,  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  investi- 
gating the  alkaloidal  constituents  of  this  plant  advantage  has 
been  taken  of  the  facts  recently  established  with  reference  to 
the  instability  of  hyoscyamine  when  in  contact  with  fixed 
alkalis,  or  when  heated  to  the  temperature  of  boiling  water. 
The  plant  was  dried  at  a  low  temperature,  exhausted  with 
cold  alcohol,  and  the  alcoholic  percolate  was  evaporated  at 
30°-40°,  while  no  fixed  alkalis  were  use  in  extracting  the  alka- 
loid. It  has  not  yet  been  definitely  established  that  atropine 
is  actually  present  in  belladonna,  or  indeed  in  any  plant,  and 
it  has  not  yet  been  shown  that  the  hyoscine  which  is  often 
obtained,  besides  atropine  and  hyoscyamine,  is  a  constituent 
of  the  plant,  and  has  not  been  produced  during  the  extraction 
of  the  alkaloids. 
From  the  fatty  and  resinous  constituents  of  the  rhizome, 
by  treating  the  acidulated  mixture  with  chloroform,  a  mass 
of  needle-shaped  crystals  was  obtained  melting  at  137*5°,  and 
on  combustion  yielding  results,  agreeing  with  the  formulas 
C26H440  or  C27H40O,  each  of  which  has  been  assigned  to  choles- 
terin.  The  amount  was  rather  more  than  o*i  per  cent.  It 
appears  to  most  nearly  resemble  phytosterin  (from  seeds)  and 
daucosterin  (from  carrots),  and  to  have  been  for  the  first  time 
noticed  in  the  natural  order  Solanacese.  The  authors  obtained 
it  also  from  the  root  of  Atropa  Belladonna,  and  approximately 
in  the  same  amount  as  from  the  scopola  rhizome.  After 
recrystallization  of  the  acids,  obtained  by  saponifying  the  fat, 
they  appear  to  consist  mainly  of  arachic  acid  C20H40O.>. 
A  crystalline  sugar  has  also  been  obtained  which  reduces 
Fehling's  solution  and  yields  an  osazone  apparently  identical 
with  that  obtained  from  dextrose.    A  crystalline  substance 
