ON  CYCLAMEN  EUROPiEUM. 
23 
alkalies.  By  using  an  acid  of  different  strengths,  products  of  a 
different  nature  are  obtained,  and  with  the  aid  of  heat  energetic 
action  is  developed.  By  fusion  with  potassa,  hydrogen  is 
eliminated,  while  an  acid  scarcely  soluble  in  water  is  gen- 
erated. The  taste  of  Cyclamin  becomes,  after  a  few  moments, 
insupportably  acrid,  attacking  the  throat.  It  is  soluble  with  the 
aid  of  heat,  and  without  decomposition  in  glycerine,  absolute 
alcohol,  wood  spirit  and  alkalies.  It  is  dissolved  in  only  small 
quantities  by  the  various  alcohols,  in  the  cold,  Ether,  bisul- 
phuret  of  carbon,  chloroform,  turpentine  and  the  essential  oils 
do  not  dissolve  it.  The  analysis  of  Cyclamin  gave  these  figures  : 
I.  II. 
Carbon,  54-55  54-54 
Hydrogen,  9-11  9.12 
The  action  of  the  juice  obtained  from  the  tuber  of  the  Cycla- 
men and  that  of  its  principle,  is  worthy  of  consideration.  The 
juice  administered  to  rabbits  in  quantities  of  from  10  to  20 
grams,  did  not  cause  the  death  of  the  animal.  Hogs  will  eat  the 
tuber  with  impunity,  while,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  poison  to  small 
fishes,  when  they  are  placed  into  water  containing  one  cubic 
centimetre  of  juice  to  two  or  three  litres  of  water.  Farther  ex- 
periments were  instituted  by  Bernard.  He  injected  the  juice, 
which  had  been  expressed  three  days  since  from  two  tubers,  into 
the  lungs  and  cellular  tissue,  in  order  to  determine  if  the  juice's 
active  principle  would  affect  those  organs,  after  the  manner  of 
cruari  poison.     The  following  results  were  obtained  : 
1.  By  injecting  twogrms.  into  the  crop  of  a  large  green  finch, 
the  bird  soon  expired. 
2.  By  injecting  four  grms.  into  the  trachea  of  a  rabbit  the 
animal  died  with  convulsions  in  ten  minutes. 
3.  One  gram,  of  the  juice  introduced  under  the  skin  of  a 
green  finch  caused  death  in  ten  minutes,  attended  with  con- 
vulsions. 
4.  A  frog  having  two  grams,  of  solution  placed  under  the 
skin,  death  followed  in  half  an  hour.  The  heart  had  ceased  to 
beat,  the  muscles  and  nerves  lost  their  irritability  almost 
entirely,  and  the  intestines  were  distended  with  gas. 
These  experiments  show  that  the  active  principle  contained 
in  the  tuber  of  the  Cyclamen  does  act  upon  the  animal  organism, 
in  a  manner  similar  to  the  cruari,  only  less  energetic. 
