^JStiSS^}      On  the  Properties  of  Opium,  etc.  77 
perties  of  the  alkaloids  of  opium,  but  also  those  of  the  other  constitu- 
ents, such  as  meconic  acid,  meconin,  etc.  It  is  already  well  known 
that  the  activity  of  the  immediate  principles  of  opium  is  not  the  same 
In  each;  but  Dr.  Rabuteau  shows,  besides,  a  fact  which  was  not  previ- 
ously known,  namely,  that  the  order  of  activity  of  these  same  principles 
is  not  the  same  in  man  and  in  the  lower  animals.  He  also  demon- 
strates, by  the  evidence  afforded  by  his  own  experiments  as  well  as 
by  those  of  his  predecessors,  the  principles  of  opium  which  cause 
sleep  in  the  human  subject,  those  which  allay  pain,  those  which  ar- 
rest diarrhoea,  and,  lastly,  those  which  act  upon  the  system  in  a  more 
energetic  and  dangerous  manner  when  given  in  large  doses.  The 
principles  which  have  been  discovered  in  opium,  and  the  order  in 
which  they  are  described  by  Dr.  Rabuteau,  are  as  follows  : — Basic 
principles. — Thebaina,  papaverina,  narcotina,  codeia,  narceina,  mor- 
phia, opiania,  porphyroxin,  pseudo-morphia.  Other  principles. — Me- 
conic acid,  meconin,  water,  caoutchouc,  resin,  fatty  matter,  gum, 
mucilage  and  extractive  matters. 
The  following  are  among  the  more  important  results  of  Dr.  Rabu- 
teau's  researches  on  these  substances :  Thebaina  produces,  in 
the  lower  animals,  violent  convulsions,  similar  to  those  caused  by 
strychnia,  but  in  man  it  is  far  less  poisonous  than  the  latter  alkaloid. 
In  order  to  ascertain  the  anexosmotic  properties  of  this  and  other 
principles,  Dr.  Rabuteau  drew  out  from  an  aperture  made  in  the  ab- 
dominal walls  of  certain  animals  a  knuckle  of  intestine,  into  which, 
after  tying  it,  a  solution  of  sulphate  of  soda  was  introduced,  and  then 
the  intestine,  tied  at  both  ends,  was  returned  into  the  abdomen,  the 
animal  having  previously  had  a  solution  of  the  thebaina  injected  under 
the  skin.  In  the  case  of  this  alkaloid  the  portion  of  intestine  was 
examined  after  the  death  of  the  animal,  and  was  found  to  contain  a 
large  quantity  of  fluid.  Thebaina,  therefore,  does  not  counteract  the 
effect  of  purgatives,  or,  in  other  words,  is  not  anexosmotic,  and,  con- 
sequently, is  not  an  opiate  preparation  which  produces  constipation, 
or  arrests  diarrhoea.  Dr.  Rabuteau  thus  summarises  the  properties 
of  thebaina  : — It  produces  convulsions,  and  is  poisonous  in  the  lower 
animals,  but  is  less  active  than  strychnia ;  it  is  not  very  poisonous  in 
man ;  it  does  not  prevent  the  exosmotic  currents  of  the  intestine ;  it 
is  not  soporific,  but  it  increases  the  anaesthetic  effect  of  chloroform ; 
and  it  is  anodyne. 
As  it  is  impossible,  from  want  of  space,  to  specify  the  researches 
