3<3  Digitalis  Glucosides  and  Allied  Drugs.  { 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
January,  1013. 
Kiliani  found  another  glucoside  in  digitalis  leaves.  This  is  a 
crystalline  body,  similar  to  digitoxin,  which  Kiliani  named  "  digi- 
tophyllin."  He  states  that  its  formula  is  C32  H52  O10  and  its  melt- 
ing point  23 1  °  C. 
The  researches  of  Schmiedeberg  and  Kiliani  also  yielded  another 
body  with  definite  chemical  characteristics,  viz.,  digitonin,  with 
the  formula  C54  H92  0  2  8  8  which  decomposes  at  a  temperature 
above  235 0  C.  without  having  a  well  defined  melting  point.  It  is 
practically  insoluble  in  water,  ether  and  chloroform,  it  is 
more  readily  soluble  in  alcohol  (80-85  P-  c-)-  It  is  preferable  to 
call  this  body  digitonin  Kiliani,  because  digitonin  Schmiedeberg, 
according  to  Kiliani,  did  not  represent  a  pure,  uniform  substance. 
Schmiedeberg  described  his  digitonin  as  an  amorphous  substance 
readily  soluble  in  water.  Kiliani  succeeded  in  demonstrating  that 
digitonin  could  be  obtained  in  either  an  amorphous  or  a  crystalline 
form,  according  to  the  concentration  of  the  alcohol  used  in  the 
process  of  recrystallisation.  On  examination  the  amorphous  prepara- 
tion was  found  to  be  readily  soluble  in  water,  while  the  crystalline 
body  dissolved  with  difficulty.  Kraft 9  considers  the  digitonins 
described  by  Schmiedeberg  and  Kiliani  to  be  distinct  substances 
and  would  like  to  see  the  name  digitsaponin  introduced  for  digitonin 
Schmiedeberg.  While  Kiliani  formerly  (Archiv.  der  Pharmazie 
1892,  p.  250)  assumed  that  digitonin  was  present  in  both  the  leaves 
and  the  seeds  of  digitalis,  it  is  stated  in  his  later  communications 
(Archiv  der  Pharm.  1895,  p.  311)  that  it  is  only  found  in  the 
seeds.  Kraft  states  that  a  body  is  present  in  the  leaves  which  can 
be  distinguished  from  digitonin  by  its  melting  point  ( 260-265 0  C), 
its  solubility  and  its  behaviour  towards  cholesterin.  Digitonin 
was  isolated  by  Schmiedeberg  and  Kiliani,  from  digitalinum 
Germanicum.  According  to  Kiliani,  when  heated  with  dilute 
hydrochloric  acid  it  splits  up  into  digitogenin,  dextrose  and  galac- 
tose. (Berichte  der  deutschen  chemischen  Gesellschaft  Berlin 
1891,  p.  341). 
Schmiedeberg  also  obtained  from  digitalinum  Germanicum  an 
amorphous  digitalin  with  the  formula  (C5H8  02)n,  the  chemical 
individuality  of  which,  in  spite  of  its  amorphous  constitution,  was 
8  See  Berichte  der  deutschen  chemischen  Gesellschaft  Berlin  Vol.  32,  p.  339 
and  Vol.  42,  p.  239.    Note  6. 
9  Kraft,  Schweizer  Wochenschrift  fur  Chemie  und  Pharmazie,  1911,  p.  175. 
and  237. 
