ON  HYDRASTINE. 
361 
crystalline ;  to  purify  the  substance,  dissolve  with  heat  in 
alcohol  of  eighty  per  cent.,  or  perhaps  preferably  in  proof 
spirit,  and  filter  while  hot :  upon  standing  for  a  few  days,  the 
greater  part  of  the  alkaloid  will  crystallize  out,  more  or  less 
colored  ;  to  render  it  quite  pure,  repeat  this  treatment  with  the 
addition  of  a  little  animal  charcoal  until  the  crystals  are  color- 
less. They  are  now  four-sided  prisms,  and  of  great  brilliancy, 
but  they  lose  this  transparency  after  they  are  dried.  The  yield 
is  about  1-5  per  cent,  of  the  dried  root  operated  on. 
Hydrastine  contains  nitrogen,  and  appears  to  be  a  powerful 
organic  base,  combining  perfectly  with  acids,  and  forming  the 
usual  double  salts  with  mercury,  gold  and  platinum.  Hydras- 
tine  is  nearly  insoluble  in  water,  but  readily  soluble  in  alcohol, 
ether,  chloroform  and  benzole ;  indeed,  it  may  be  obtained  by 
treating  the  powdered  root  in  a  displacement  apparatus  with 
either  of  the  three  latter  solvents,  which  are  without  action 
upon  berberine. 
The  greater  part  of  the  salts  of  hydrastine  appear  to  be 
readily  soluble  in  water ;  so  far  as  I  have  observed,  the  phos- 
phate and  the  iodate  are  the  least  so :  the  carbazotate  is  not 
very  soluble  in  proof  spirit,  and  it  may  be  easily  obtained  in 
radiating  groups  of  yellow  silky  needles,  often  arranged  after 
the  manner  of  wavellite. 
Hydrastine  melts  to  a  clear  colorless  resin  at  a  few  degrees 
above  212°  Fahr. 
Hydrastine,  and  especially  its  soluble  salts,  have  a  bitter  and 
acrid  taste,  followed  by  a  sense  of  numbness,  which  is  not 
severe,  but  nevertheless  is  well  marked  ;  whatever  the  physiologi- 
cal effects  of  this  alkaloid  may  prove  to  be,  it  cannot,  I  think, 
be  classed  amongst  the  poisons,  as  five  grains  given  in  solution 
to  a  full-grown  rabbit  produced  no  other  effect  than  a  slight 
uneasiness,  which  passed  off  in  the  course  of  an  hour  or  two. 
Crystals  of  hydrastine  touched  with  concentrated  nitric  acid 
merely  give  rise  to  a  yellow-brown  coloration,  which  is  not  very 
noteworthy,  but  with  sulphuric  acid  and  an  oxidizing  agent  the 
result  is  different ;  with  sulphuric  acid  and  bichromate  of  potash, 
or  peroxoide  of  lead,  a  coloration  is  produced  varying  from  a 
brick-red  to  a  light  but  pure  crimson,  certainly  distinct  from 
the  deep  purple  yielded  by  a  crystal  of  strychnine,  but  so 
