516 
ON  ACONITE. 
difficulty  of  obtaining  it  pure,  much  attracted  the  attention  of 
pharmaceutists.  As  a  tour  deforce^  its  preparation  possessed  a 
charm  for  me,  so  that  during  the  last  ten  years  or  so  I  have  made 
several  attempts  to  obtain  it. 
Dr.  Turnbull  was  one  of  the  first  to  introduce  it  into  the  medi- 
cal practice  of  this  country,  and  himself  published  several  pro- 
cesses for  preparing  it.  The  following  is  his  first  method, — ex- 
pressly designed,  one  would  imagine,  for  showing  "  how  not  to 
do  it:" — 
"  Procure  fresh  roots  of  Aconite,  dry,  and  powder  ;  mix  one 
part  of  root  with  two  parts  of  spirit,  and  digest  for  seven  days. 
The  warm  tincture  filtered,  carefully  reduce  it  to  a  fluid  extract. 
To  it  add  Liquid  Ammonia,  but  not  too  much,  6  as  in  some  in- 
stances the  product  appears  to  have  been  decomposed  by  inatten- 
tion to  this  circumstance. '  The  precipitated  mass  is  now  boiled 
with  Alcohol  or  Sulphuric  Ether  to  remove  the  alkaloid,  or  treated 
with  cold  water  to  remove  the  extractive,  etc.,  which  last  method 
the  doctor  prefers,  in  which  case  the  residue  is  purified  by  solu- 
tion in  Alcohol.  The  light  brown  or  gray  powder  thus  obtained 
is  extremely  poisonous  ;  one-third  of  a  grain  caused  the  death 
of  a  guinea-pig  in  a  few  minutes." 
This  process  was  afterwards  somewhat  improved  by  adding 
cold  water  to  the  spiritous  extract,  filtering  off  the  precipitated 
resin,  and  precipitating  from  the  filtrate  the  alkaloid  of  ammonia. 
The  purification  is  effected  by  washing  repeatedly  with  cold  water. 
The  product  is  said  to  be  white. 
This  modified  form  is  very  nearly  that  prescribed  in  P.  L.  1826. 
The  P.  L.  of  1851  entirely  omitted  both  its  description  and  pre- 
paration.   It  is  not  surprising  to  find  that  by  following  these 
methods  the  products  of  different  laboratories  were  by  no  means 
alike,  either  in  activity  or  chemical  characteristics,  whilst  more 
frequently  the  alkaloid  was  altogether  missed.    Thence  its  pre- 
posterous price  (3s.  Gd.  a  grain),  and  the  discredit,  so  uncertain 
yet  at  times  so  frightfully  active  an  agent  began  to  find  attached 
to  it.    Thence,  also,  the  contradictory  accounts  of  writers  on  the 
subject,  some  affirming  it  to  be  crystallizable,  others  not  so. 
Similar  differences  as  to  its  effect  on  the  pupil  are  yet  not  settled. 
The  preparation  of  Mr.  Morson  is  stated  to  be  the  only  one  to 
