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ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

1. Picrotoxin {Picrotoxic Acid). —At first it was supposed to be an alkaline 8U . . a ,icf,and was termed picrotoxia. It is a white, crystalline, intensely bitter sU atl!i ]>a;usually crystallizing in needles, but sometimes in silky flexible filaments or

rent plates, or granular ci^-stals. It is soluble in 150 parts of water at 57 |j a lf itsparts of boiling water, in a third of its weight of alcohol, and in less thanweight of ether. It is insoluble in the fixed and volatile oils, but is soluble tn jtacid. It does not combine with acids, but forms combinations with al** yi ,eseems, therefore, to be an acid, though a feeble one. It consists of C 12 H 7 ''5-.^poisonous properties of the nucleus (seed) of cocculus indicus depend on picrot"- , s (jil-

2. Menispermia (Menispermina; Menispermine.) —This is an opaque, white,

line substance, soluble in alcohol and ether, but insoluble in water. It fuses at T^ g0 ]vesand at a higher temperature is decomposed, leaving an abundant charcoal. I 1 ^tra^in. and saturates acids: and from these solutions alkalies nrecinitate it. Cone

0 2 -

it, and saturates acids; and from these solutions alkalies precipitatesulphuric acid has little action on it : hot nitric acid converts it into a yellow ,,substance, and oxalic acid. It is composed, according to Gay-Lussac , of C 18 tiIt does not appear to have any marked action on the animal economy. - s ta11‘ ,,e

3. Paramenispermia (Paramenispermina; Paramenispermine). —This is a | c0 |u)bsolid, insoluble in water, scarcely soluble in ether, but dissolving readily 111 aC ids>It is fusible and volatile, and may be sublimed unchanged. It does not satura jjpgand, therefore, differs in this respect from the preceding substance. Notwiths

this, however, its composition is the same. . lV ate r

4. Hypopicrotoxic Acid. —This acid is an amorphous, brown, solid, insoluble if ^ j (| ,(cold or boiling), insoluble in ether, soluble in alkalies, and precipitable (roin 1

tion in them by the mineral acids. It is composed of, carbon 6444, hydrog&oxygen 29 77. This composition approximates to that of picrotoxin.

The yellow alkaline matter of the shell has been scarcely examined. _ , g c a6 s

BoulJay (Journ. de Pharm. xiv. 61) mentions a crystalline substance which 1 ^ nll ,menispermic acid; but its properties require further examination. (See Casaseca,Chim. et Phys. xxx. 307).

T 1,e

Chemical Characteristics. —Iodine colours the nucleus brofl acold watery infusion of the whole fruit is slightly acid, and pi'° c j l a j 5 odark precipitate with the sesquichloride of iron. Infusion of g ;iloccasions a precipitate. ? t he

Physiological Effects, (a.) On vegetables. — A solution °_p oll raqueous extract of Cocculus indicus killed' a haricot plant in twentyhours (Marcet, Ann. de Chem. et de Phys. xxix. 215). l ^ it

(b.) On animals generally. —It is poisonous to all animals ; at pp-ds,has been found to be poisonous to dogs, goats, cows, crocodiles; p L >and insects. Goupil (quoted by Orfila, Toxicol. Gen.) considered ia local irritant; but the correctness of this opinion is denied by jr{Ibid.) When introduced into the stomach its irritant effects "' ere e p r o'fined to the production of nausea and vomiting. It acts on the cer ^spinal system, causing staggering, trembling, tetanic convulsi°®^kjj e (linsensibility. Goupil states, all fish who eat it die,—roach being ((very easily, barbel with more difficulty. “ The barbel,” we are toi > j,iof all fish, that whose flesh the most frequently occasions accl j 011 ge rthose animals who eat it, probably because these fish, taking a pyetime to die, the poison is longer subjected to the action of thejuices, and a considerable quantity of it is consequently abs°, g (eiibOrfila says, Cocculus indicus acts like camphor on the nervous s)and principally on the brain.

(c.) On man. —Its effects on man have not been accurately ascerHill {Hist, of the Mat. Med.) says, three or four grains of it have br^ jj lCon nauseas and faintings. It is frequently added to malt liquors, tspurpose of increasing their intoxicating powers; but, from some ac qywhich I have received from an Excise officer, who has been rep esubjected to the influence of beer thus adulterated, its acti