Am'jan.risP76?rm"}  Alkaloids  of  Veratrum  Viride  and  Album.  7 
of  the  alkaloid,  an  immediate  turbidity,  and  after  a  little  time,  a  quite 
good  deposit  of  granules  and  crystalline  masses.  In  the  presence  of 
free  acetic  acid,  this  reagent  produces  much  the  same  results  as  free 
nitric  acid. 
3.  Hydrochloric  acid  produces  an  immediate,  copious,  dull-white 
amorphous  precipitate,  which  becomes  more  or  less  granular. 
4.  Bromine  in  bromohydric  acid  throws  down  from  solutions  of  the  alka- 
loid, a  dense,  curdy,  yellow  precipitate,  which  is  readily  soluble  in  alcohol. 
On  spontaneous  evaporation  of  the  alcoholic  liquid,  the  deposit  is  left 
in  the  granular  form. 
5.  Platinic  chloride  produces  a  deep  yellow  precipitate,  which 
becomes  lighter  in  color,  and  more  or  less  granular. 
6.  Auric  chloride  occasions  a  light  yellow,  curdy  precipitate. 
Jervia  is  also  precipitated  by  other  liquid  reagents,  but  the  reaction, 
like  the  last  three  mentioned,  are  common  to  a  large  class  of  substances. 
Recovery  of  the  Alkaloids  from  complex  mixtures. — The  following 
experiments  were  made  in  order  to  determine  in  how  far  the  alkaloids 
could  be  individually  recovered  from  complex  mixtures  : 
Exp.  1.  Cat. — Two  drachms  of  the  fluid  extract  of  veratrum  viride 
were  administered  to  a  half-grown  cat.  The  animal  was  immediately 
rendered  prostrate,  and  was  dead  in  about  one  minute  after  the  adminis- 
tration. As  a  quantity  of  the  fluid  extract  escaped  from  the  mouth  of 
the  animal,  we  have  doubts  if  more  than  one  drachm  reached  the 
stomach. 
The  Stomach. — The  contents  of  the  stomach,  with  the  cut-up  tissue 
of  the  organ,  were  strongly  acidulated  with  acetic  acid,  the  whole  made 
into  a  liquid  mass  with  water  containing  its  own  volume  of  alcohol,  and 
the  mixture  digested  at  a  moderate  heat  for  half  an  hour.  The  liquid 
was  then  strained,  concentrated,  again  strained,  and  finally  reduced  to  a 
small  volume  and  filtered. 
This  filtrate  was  treated  with  slight  excess  of  carbonate  of  sodium,  and 
the  mixture  extracted  with  ether.  The  deposit  left  on  evaporating  the 
ether,  contained  a  large  number  of  groups  of  crystals  of  jervia,  and 
the  margin  was  of  a  resinous  character,  and  also  contained  small 
crystals. 
The  residue  was  treated  with  a  little  water  containing  hydrochloric 
acid,  and  the  alkaloids  separated  in  the  manner  already  described,  the 
chloride  of  jervia  being  collected  in  a  small  filter. 
