AmAu^.?lf8h6a^m•}  Constituents  of  Lobelia.  393 
about  Fir  inch  long,  oval,  flattened,  and  finely  striate.  The  dried 
plant  is  covered  with  numerous  resinous  dots,  and  has  an  acrid, 
biting  taste.    Dr.  H.  v.  Rosen  obtained  from  the  powdered  herb 
Moisture  1277 
Ash  (of  which  in  water  soluble  2*04  per  cent.)   935 
Sand   0  47 
Albuminoids  and  alkaloids  soluble  in  water   2*49 
Albuminoids  soluble  in  soda  solution   8"23 
Insoluble  albuminoids   9"09 
Cellulose  28'58 
Fat  and  other  substances  soluble  in  petroleum  benzin   3'68 
Resin  and  chlorophyll  soluble  in  ether   2*01 
Mucilage  soluble  in  water   2*50 
Metarabic  acid  (pectin)   0'27 
Lobelic  (?)  and  other  vegetable  acids   6*21 
Amylaceous  substances   1*29 
Other  substances  soluble  in  water   1*60 
Other  insoluble  bodies  (cuticular  substances,  lignin,  etc.)  11'46 
100-00 
The  presence  of  alkaloids  was  ascertained  from  the  acid  infusion 
which  was  successively  agitated  with  petroleum  benzin,  benzol  and 
chloroform,  then  rendered  alkaline  with  ammonia  and  agitated  as 
before.  The  benzin  solution  from  the  alkaline  liquid  contained  the 
liquid  alkaloid  lobeline,  and  the  chloroform  solution  when  evaporated 
left  striated  prisms  of  another  alkaloid;  minute  quantities  of  the 
latter  were  also  found  in  the  benzol  solutions  from  both  the  alkaline 
and  acid  liquid,  and  a  somewhat  larger  quantity  in  the  chloroform 
solution  from  the  acid  liquid.  The  benzin  solution  of  lobeline  gives 
with  ether  and  hydrochloric  acid  a  whitish  precipitate  of  lobeline 
hydrochlorate,  and  this  salt  yields  with  Froehde's  reagent  the  charac- 
teristic red  color  passing  into  violet,  and  gives  precipitates  with  pic- 
ric acid;  auric  chloride  and  with  bromine  in  potassium  bromide.  The 
second  alkaloid  yields  heavy  precipitates  with  the  usual  reagents,  except 
picric  acid  and  tannin  which  cause  in  the  solutions  a  slight  turbidity ; 
Froehde's  reagent  gives  a  brown  color  changing  to  green,  and  sulpho- 
vanadic  acid  causes  a  cherry-red  or  violet-red  coloration. 
The  same  two  alkaloids  were  also  obtained  from  Lobelia  inflata, 
Lin.,  though  the  volatile  lobeline  was  present  only  in  minute  quan- 
tity, the  herb  having  been  on  hand  for  a  prolonged  time. 
The  physiological  experiments,  made  with  lobeline  sulphate  pre- 
pared by  Merck,  and  with  the  two  alkaloids  obtained  from  the  above- 
