CHAPTER XI.

ACONITE, AND ACONITIA, OR ACONITINE.

Plants: Aconitum napellus—A. ferox. Alkaloids: aconitia—Pseudaconitia—other bases—Decompositions—Proportions in the plants. Commercial aconitia—German aconitia—English aconitia. Separation—Tests, chemical and physiological. History—Preparations, official and non-official. Physiological effects—Causes of death—Post-mortem appearances—Treatment and antidotes—Remarks 568

INDEX 583

ADDENDA.

A.

THE following is my own experience of the differences between strychnia and morphia.—C. G. S.

┌—─—─—─—─—─—──────────—─—─—─┬—─—─—─—─—─—────────—─┬—─—─—─—───────—─—─┐ │ │ MORPHIA. │ STRYCHNIA. │ ├—─—─—─—─—─—──────────—─—─—─┼—─—─—─—─—─—────────—─┼—─—─—─—─—───────—─┤ │Concent. H_{2}SO_{4}—cold. │If pure, nothing at │If pure, nothing. │ │ │ first. │Some yellow─brown.│ │ ” ” warmed.│Violet, not strong. │ Do. │ │ To this warmed solution │ │ │ │add:— │ │ │ ├—─—─—─—─—─—─—─—──────────—─┼—─—─—─—─—─—────────—─┼—─—─—─—───────—─—─┤ │ MnO_{2}. │Red, changing slowly │_Deep blue purple_│ │ │ to brown, then │ —tored purple— │ │ │ orange. On dilution,│cherryred—finally │ │ │ yellow─brown. │(changes slow). On│ │ │ │ dilution, rich │ │ │ │ orange red. │ ├—─—─—─—─—─—─—──────────—─—─┼—─—────────—─—─—─—─—─┼—─—─—─—───────—─—─┤ │ K_{6}Cfy_{2}. │Violet, changing to │Same changes, but │ │ │ orange; not strong. │ more rapid and │ │ │ On dilution, at once│ less distinct. On│ │ │ destroyed to │ dilution, at once│ │ │ greenish─yellow │ destroyed to │ │ │ solution, turning │ greenish─yellow │ │ │blue. │ solution. │ ├—─—─—─—─—─—──────────—─—─—─┼—─—─—─—─—─—────────—─┼—─—─—───────—─—─—─┤ │ K_{2}Cr_{2}O_{7}. │Red─brown, │Same as with │ │ │ orange─brown, │ MnO_{2}, but more│ │ │ _green_. │ evanescent and │ │ │ On dilution, │ rapid in change. │ │ │ _green_. │ On dilution, at │ │ │ │ once removed to │ │ │ │ yellowish─brown. │ ├—─—─—─—─—─—─—─—──────────—─┼—─—─—─—────────—─—─—─┼—─—─—───────—─—─—─┤ │ HNO_{3} concent. │_Intense brownish─ │_In the cold, │ │ │ red_, changing │ nothing if pure._│ │ │ to brown— bleached │ On warming, │ │ │ by SnCl_{2}. │ orange─yellow │ │ │ │ —then SnCl_{2} │ │ │ │ _brown_ changing│ │ │ │ with excess to │ │ │ │ yellow. │ └—─—─—─—─—─—──────────—─—─—─┴—─—─—─—────────—─—─—─┴—─—─—─—───────—─—─┘

B.

The chlorine used in the separation of arsenic (p. 385) must be _pure_. The best process for making it is to heat _pure_ potass. dichromate with _pure_ hydrochloric acid. The latter may be obtained by heating the “pure” acid of commerce in a retort until a portion of the distillate gives no indication of arsenic by the tests. The remainder in the retort is then arsenic-free.

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ERRATUM.

Page 397, line 11, _for_ “Waislow,” _read_, “Winslow.”

TRIALS FOR POISONING.