SPIKK-FLOWERKD ASAGR.EA. 037
&( lded, aiul with a gentle heat, evaporate the strained liquors to the consistence of ar? ru l’- Into this, when cold, pul the magnesia to saturation, frequently shaking(• "‘an] ; then press, and wash. Let this he done twice or thrice : then dry what remains,
' "u digest w ith a gentle heat in spirit two or three times, and as often strain. After-' Va rds iet the spirit distil. Boil the residue in water, to which a little sulphuric acidHl ‘d animal charcoal are added, for a quarter of an hour, and strain. Lastly, the'arcoal being thoroughly washed, cautiously evaporate the [mixed] liquors until theya ^ e the consistence of a syrup, and drop into them as much ammonia as maybeu mcient to throw down the veratria. Separate this, and dry it.”
The process of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia is as follows:—
1 Take any convenient quantity of Sahadilla : pour boiling water over it in a coveredth* Se l, anc * ^ et macerate for 24 hours ; remove the Sabadilla, squeeze it, and dry itoroughly with a gentle heat. Beat it now in a mortar, and separate the seeds fromle capsules by brisk agitation in a deep narrow vessel. Grind the seeds in a coffee-'u> and form them into a thick paste with rectified spirit. Pack this firmly in a•P'Colator, and pass rectified spirit through it till the spirit ceases to be coloured.
°ncentrate the spirituous solutions, by distillation, so long as no deposit forms, andv Ur the residuum, while hot, into twelve times its volume of cold water. Filtertough calico, and wash the residuum on the filter so long as the washings precipitate‘di ammonia. Unite the filtered liquid with the washings, and add an excess of'untonia. Collect the precipitate on a filter, wash it slightly with cold water, andr y U first by imbibition with filtering paper, and then in the vapour bath. A small'.‘''tional quantity may be got by concentrating the filtered ammoniacal fluid, and“"ing it to cool.
Veratria thus obtained is not pure, but sufficiently so for medicinal use. From this.poured substance it may be obtained white, though at considerable loss, by solutionv ery weak muriatic acid, decolorization with animal charcoal, and re-precipitationu ‘t ammonia.”
. ( c -) Theory. —The following statement applies to the process off * e London College, and is perhaps correct as far as it goes:—^ e hadilla yields to rectified spirit veratria in combination with a vege-^ble acid. When the alcoholic extract is treated with water and^phuric acid, an impure solution of the sulphate of veratria is obtained.‘ a gnesia decomposes this, unites with the sulphuric and vegetableijjds, and sets free the alkaloid, which is taken up by rectified spirit.
he extract obtained by distilling off the spirit is then boiled in waterJ'dh sulphuric acid and animal charcoal: the acid unites with the alka-0 * ( i, while the charcoal abstracts colouring matter. Ammonia being’hied to the strained solution, combines with the sulphuric acid, andc casions a precipitate, which, when dried, constitutes commercial orVicinal veratria {veratria, Ph . L.)
j % Couerbe’s process, a drachm of commercial veratria may, it is said,Je Procured from one pound of cebadilla.
Commercial veratria was said by Couerbe to be composed of pure■ t T< f r ia, sabadillina, resin of veratria (veratrin, Couerbe ), and gum-of veratria (resinigomme, Couerbe). These are separated from eacha ler lj y the successive action of water, ether, and alcohol, as shewn byle following table:—
ater.
Commercial ( y ields t0 boilin £ wVeratria | insoluble in boiling water ..
51. Sabadillina , which crystallizes on cooling.}2. Resin of veratria, left in the cold solution.
(3.
<4. Gum-resin of veratria , insoluble in ether,t but soluble in alcohol.
Tl
A1 ie nature of sabadillina has been already pointed out (p. 635).gre ' Tro/jerrie.?.— Commercial veratria is pulverulent, odourless, and^ ‘>'sh or brownish white. All the samples I have tasted were bitter and1( > U1) d produced a feeling of numbness and tingling when applied to