Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
Sept , 1880,  J 
Japanese  Belladonna. 
to  the  acid  liquid  left  after  shaking  with  chloroform  and  by  again 
shaking  the  now  alkaline  liquid  with  chloroform.  The  latter  takes  up 
the  alkaloid  and  deposits  it,  on  evaporation,  in  an  impure  condition,  as 
a  yellowish-brown,  resinous  mass.  In  order  to  purify  it,  it  was  dis- 
solved in  dilute  sulphuric  acid  and  the  solution  carefully  mixed  with 
sodium  carbonate,  as  long  as  the  precipitate  was  dirty  and  slimy.  After 
filtering,  a  further  quantity  of  sodium  carbonate  was  added  as  long  as  a 
precipitate  was  formed.  The  latter  was  collected  on  a  filter,  washed 
and  dissolved  in  chloroform.  On  evaporating  the  latter,  the  alkaloid 
was  obtained  as  a  yellowish,  resinous  mass,  which,  when  perfectly  dry, 
may  be  rubbed  up  to  a  yellowish-grey  powder,  possessing  a  great  ten- 
dency to  run  together.  I  have  been  unable  to  obtain  this  alkaloid  in 
a  crystalline  condition  or  to  form  crystallized  salts.  It  is  difficultly 
soluble  in  water,  easily  in  acidulated  water,  also  easily  in  chloroform 
and  alcohol  All  these  solutions,  except  when  supersaturated  with 
acid,  have  a  strong  alkaline  reaction.  It  yields  precipitates  with  nearly 
all  alkaloidal  reagents. 
Regarding  its  effect  on  the  animal  organism,  I  can  at  present  (July 
22,  1878,  at  a  meeting  held  in  Tenkion,  Yedo,  Japan — Ed.  N.  R  ) 
only  say  that  it  seems  to  act  similarly  to  atropia.  What  relation  it 
bears  to  the  latter,  however,  I  am  not  at  present  prepared  to  say,  but 
hope  to  be  soon  able  to  give  a  fuller  account  of  its  composition,  pro- 
ducts of  decomposition  and  physiological  effects. — Dr.  A.  Langgaard, 
from  "  Mittheilungen  der  Deutschen  Gesellschft  fur  Natur-  und 
Volkerkunde  Ost-Asiens,"  fol.  Yokohama.  No.  16  (December,  1878), 
p.  267. 
Note  by  Ed.  N.  R. — A  short  account  of  the  root  of  Scopolia  japonica 
and  its  uses,  by  Dr.  G.  Martin,  of  Tokio,  Japan,  may  be  found  in  the 
*'Archiv  der  Pharmacie,"  December,  1878,  p.  336.  Dr.  Martin  states 
that  it  is  called  Japanese  belladonna,  but  that  its  narcotic  effects  are 
much  less  marked  than  those  of  true  belladonna.  He  says  it  contains 
solanine,  but  no  atropine.  The  plant  is  further  remarkable  from  the 
fact  that  it  communicates  to  liquids  a  stronger  fluorescence  than  any 
other  known  plant. — Pharm.  Journ.  and  Trans. July  3,  1880,  from 
New  Remedies.^  J^me,  1880, 
