570 
EDITORIAL. 
ciples  contained  in  morphia,  we  may  signalize  the  following  as  being  remark- 
ably well  shown: — The  narceine  of  Messrs.  Morson  and  Son,  meconine  of  M. 
Menier,  papaverine,  narcotine,  muriate  of  thebaine,  and  meconic  acid  of 
Messrs.  Smith  ;  the  last  named  firm  also  exhibit  a  body  named  by  them  thebo- 
lactic  acid,  of  which  they  claim  the  discovery,  but  of  which  no  account  has 
yet  been  published.  They  also  show  two  thebo-lactates,  namely  those  of  cop- 
per and  of  morphia. 
Strychnia. — The  only  British  manufacturer  on  a  large  scale  is,  we  believe, 
Mr.  Hulle,  who  exhibits  excellent  specimens  of  the  alkaloid  and  its  salts. 
From  the  Continent  we  find  strychnia  contributed  by  M.  Menier  and  Messrs. 
Laurent  and  Casthelaz,  of  Paris,  and  M.  Merck,  of  Darmstadt.  M.  Menier, 
whose  strychnia  is  in  crystals  of  remarkable  size  and  beauty,  is  also  the  ex- 
hibitor of  a  large  specimen  of  igasurine,  the  only  one  we  believe  in  the  Exhi- 
bition. This  alkaloid,  which  was  discovered  by  Desnoix  about  the  year  1853, 
is  contained  in  nux-vomica,  from  the  liquors  of  which,  produced  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  strychnia,  it  may  be  separated  after  the  precipitation  of  that  alka- 
loid and  the  brucine  by  lime  at  a  boiling  temperature.  From  these  aqueous 
liquors  the  igasurine,  in  an  impure  state,  may  be  obtained  by  evaporation.* 
Igasurine  is  said  to  have  medicinal  powers  of  the  same  character  as  strychnia  ; 
but  we  are  not  aware  that  exact  observations  upon  this  subject  have  yet  been 
instituted. 
The  collection  of  organic  chemical  products  shown  by  M.  Merck  includes 
several  substances  of  great  interest  and  rarity,  exhibited  in  very  considerable 
quantities.  Of  such  we  may  mention  elaterine,  of  which  there  is  a  large 
specimen,  well  crystallized  and  perfectly  white;  also  cubebine,  delphinine,  ane- 
monine,  sidphate  of  sabadilline  and  scoparine. 
Atropine,  now  frequently  used  in  the  form  of  sulphate,  for  the  dilation  of 
the  pupil,  is  shown  M.  Menier. 
Messrs.  Morson  exhibit  the  valerianate,  a  salt  the  use  of  which  in  medicine 
is  very  undesirable,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  not  only  highly  deliquescent,  but 
that  it  constitutes  a  gummy  mass  which  it  is  no  easy  task  to  weigh  with 
accuracy.  It  is  moreover  impossible  to  believe  that  the  alkaloid  combined 
with  valerianic  acid  can  occasion  effects  which  would  not  be  produced  by  the 
sulphate,  a  salt  presenting  no  such  objections. 
Aloine. — Messrs.  T.  and  H.  Smith,  of  Edinburgh,  to  whom  is  due  the  dis- 
covery of  aloine  in  1851,  exhibit  it  in  the  form  of  a  mass  of  brownish-yellow  crys- 
tals, which  are  not  without  beauty.  Crystals  of  aloine,  in  great  abundance, 
occur  in  a  variety  of  Socotrine  aloes,  imported  a  few  years  since,  which  was 
in  a  semi-fluid  condition,  the  evaporation  not  having  been  carried  to  the  usual 
limit.  In  the  aloes  in  question,  the  aloine  subsides  in  the  course  of  time  to 
the  bottom  of  the  vessel  as  a  yellow  mass,  the  supernatant  aloes  being  dark 
and  transparent. 
Aconitine,  both  amorphous  and  crystallized,  is  shown  by  Messrs.  Morson  and 
Son.  The  aconitine  of  these  manufacturers  is  well  known  for  its  superiority 
in  virulence,  a  fact  which  enables  it  to  command  a  very  high  price.  Messrs. 
Hopkin  and  Williams  are  also  English  manufacturers  and  exhibitors  of  this 
alkaloid. 
Bibirine  and  its  sulphate  are  contributed  by  Merck,  of  Darmstadt,  and  Mac- 
farlane,  of  Edinburgh.  A  sample  of  the  sulphate  (now  not  unfrequently  pre- 
scribed in  London)  is  also  sent  by  Mr.  Knowles,  of  Demerara,  from  which 
colony  the  Bibiru  Bark  is  an  export. 
Santonine,  which  has  come  into  extensive  use  since  the  Exhibition  of  1851, 
is  chiefly  manufactured  in  Germany.  Messrs.  Bohringer  and  Sons,  of  Stutt- 
gart, who  prepare  it  on  a  very  large  scale,  exhibit  one  of  the  numerous  excel- 
lent samples  submitted  to  the  Jury. 
Pereirine. — This  alkaloid  is  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Ezequiel  Correa  dos  Santos 
e  Filho,  Messrs.  Aleixo  Gary  and  Co.,  and  Mr.  Peckolt,  all  of  Brazil;  and  is 
*  Gerhardt, « Chimie  Organique,'  vol.  iv.  (1856),  p.  182. 
