ON  COLCHICIA. 
211 
portion  of  the  liquid  evaporated  to  dryness,  yielded  with  sul- 
phuric acid  and  nitre,  the  characteristic  change  of  colors  in  a 
very  satisfactory  manner. 
Colchicia  cannot  be  distilled  unchanged.  When  heated  in  a 
small  tube  retort  it  fuses,  and  is  decomposed  at  a  heat  below 
redness,  giving  off  combustible  gas  and  leaving  a  bulky  shining 
black  coal,  full  of  vesicles,  in  the  retort.  If  cautiously  heated 
on  a  slip  of  platina  foil  it  first  melts,  without  decomposition,  into 
a  clear  liquid,  which  if  allowed  to  cool  forms  a  transparent  glass, 
but  if  the  heat  be  raised  it  inflames  and  burns  with  a  white 
smoky  flame,  leaving  a  small  amount  of  coal,  which  is  readily 
dissipated  by  a  continuance  of  the  heat.  A  mere  trace  of  a 
spot  is  left  on  the  foil,  showing  the  position  of  the  alkaloid  before 
decomposition. 
Considerable  annoyance  was  experienced  in  the  purification 
of  colchicia  from  coloring  matter,  on  account  of  the  great  loss 
always  sustained  when  it  was  brought  in  contact  with  animal 
charcoal.  Even  an  alcoholic  solution  of  the  sulphate  was  de- 
prived of  a  considerable  portion  of  its  colchicia  by  boiling  for 
a  few  minutes  with  purified  animal  coal ;  a  still  larger  proportion 
was  lost  when  an  alcoholic  solution  of  the  uncombined  alkaloid 
was  treated  in  this  manner ;  and  a  watery  solution  of  the  acetate 
was  almost  entirely  deprived  of  bitterness  by  agitation  in  the 
cold  with  a  portion  of  freshly  prepared  ivory  black.  This  pro- 
perty of  animal  charcoal  would  suggest  the  propriety  of  its  ad- 
ministration in  cases  of  poisoning  by  colchicia  or  preparations  of 
colchicum ;  and  as  it  is  perfectly  harmless  very  large  quantities 
might  be  swallowed  without  any  inconvenience  resulting  from  its 
use.  Of  course  it  would  not  be  a  perfect  antidote,  but  might 
serve  as  a  palliative  until  the  stomach  could  be  emptied  by  the 
usual  means. 
It  was  thought  possible  that  a  derivative  alkaloid  might  be 
obtained  from  colchicia  by  distillation  with  caustic  potassa,  but 
although  the  experiment  was  carefully  performed  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  carbonic  acid,  no  indication  of  the  presence  of  an 
alkaloid  could  be  obtained  in  the  distillate. 
