Am.  Jour.  Pharro.  ) 
.     A"g->  1879.  ) 
Preparations  from  the  Squill. 
415 
1  part  of  sulphate  of  spartein  to  50  of  water  and  of  this  the  internal 
■dose  was  30  drops  (=  0*04  gram  of  the  salt)  and  the  subcutaneous  1 
gram  (=  o*02  gram). — Pharm.  your.  Trans.  [Lond.]7  June  28,  1879. 
PREPARATIONS  FROM  THE  SQUILL. 
By  E.  Merck. 
In  consideration  of  the  unsatisfactory  nature  of  the  so-called  "  scil- 
litin,"  which  has  been  looked  upon  as  the  quintessence  of  squill  extract, 
although  not  perhaps  as  the  pure  active  principle,  and  induced  by  the 
wish  to  present  the  diuretic  portion  of  the  squill  as  the  purest  possible 
body  and  in  convenient  form,  the  author  has  carried  out  a  new  exami- 
nation of  the  Scilla  maritima.  Up  to  the  present  time  this  has  yielded 
him  three  substances,  which  upon  the  suggestion  of  Prof.  Husemann, 
of  Gottingen,  who  has  made  some  physiological  experiments  with 
them,  and  Dr.  C.  Moeller,  he  has  named  scillipicrin,  scillitoxin  and 
scillin.  Some  therapeutic  experiments  are  being  made  under  the  care 
of  Dr.  Fronmuller. 
Scillipicrin  is  a  yellowish- white  amorphous  powder,  very  hygroscopic 
and  very  soluble  in  water,  and  having  a  bitter  taste.  Its  solubility  in 
water  allows  of  its  subcutaneous  injection.  It  has  a  definite  action 
upon  the  heart :  a  slackening  of  the  heart-beats  and  eventual  cessation 
in  diastole  is  the  result  of  an  excessive  dose,  which  with  frogs  amounts 
to  o*oi  to  0'02  gram. 
Scillitoxin  is  a  cinnamon-brown  powder,  insoluble  in  water  and  ether, 
soluble  in  alcohol.  The  solution  in  alcohol  has  a  lasting  bitter  and 
burning  taste.  The  dry  substance  has  a  powerfully  irritating  action 
upon  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  nose.  In  aqueous  solutions  of  the 
alkalies  it  is  readily,  but  not  absolutely  completely  dissolved ;  upon 
heating  the  solution  in  soda  ley  a  peculiar  koussin-like  odor  is  devel- 
oped. Acids  produce  in  these  alkaline  solutions  a  flocculent  precipi- 
tate. When  concentrated  sulphuric  acid  is  poured  upon  scillitoxin, 
first  a  red  and  then  a  brown  color  result  :  nitric  acid  produces  first  a 
light  red  and  finally  an  orange-yellow  to  yellowish-green  color.  The 
•use  of  scillitoxin  in  subcutaneous  injection  is  rendered  difficult  by  its 
insolubility  in  water,  and  this  necessitated,  in  the  experiments  with 
frogs,  the  introduction  of  the  preparation  under  the  skin  in  the  solid 
