An inaugural dissertation on strychnia : presented to the Medical faculty of McGill College, May 1st, 1858, prior to receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine and Surgery / by Alexander P. Reid.

  • Reid, Alexander P. (Alexander Peter), 1836-
Date:
1858
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An inaugural dissertation on strychnia : presented to the Medical faculty of McGill College, May 1st, 1858, prior to receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine and Surgery / by Alexander P. Reid. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    and upon the addition of an acid, as the sulphuric, chlorine gas, almost pure, is evolved. Sensible Properties.—When pure, strychnia is a crystalline sub- stance—white, inodorous, and intensely bitter ; when rapidly crystallized it is granular, but by the spontaneous evaporation of the alcoholic solution it takes the form of the octohaedron or four-sided prism. It is fusible, but not volatile. The bitterness is such, that 1 part is distinguishable in 80.000 of water. Chemical Characters.—Equivalent weight, 334. Composition, C42H22^2 O (Regnault), C»>IIWN03 (Liebig). It is very insoluble in water, requiring 6661 parts for complete solution at 50° F., equal to about 14 ounces of water for each grain; of boiling water it requires 2200 parts. It is almost insoluble in absolute alcohol or ether when in its free state, but more soluble in common alcohol; by heating, this pro- perty is still farther increased. It is also moderately soluble in fixed and volatile oils. As an alkaloid it saturates acids, and even displaces other vegetable bases, as brucia and morphia, and also some metallic oxides are partly separated from their combinations with acids forming double salts. It is destroyed by a heat under that of redness. Sulphuretted hydrogen is evolved when it is fused with sulphur. It is very soluble in diluted acids, forming salts. The common strychnia is reddened by nitric acid, but if pure is unaffected: the color is due to the action of the acid on brucia. Tests.—1st.* It is found crystallized in short prisms, or as a greyish powder with a bitter taste. 2nd. Scarcely soluble in alcohol and water, and slightly so in ether, but readily in acetic acid. 3rd. Heated on rn foil it burns, becomes charred, evolving a smoky flame and poisonous vapour, leaving a residue of carbon. 4th. Nitric acid reddens it, without evolving nitrous acid. 5th. Soluble in diluted acids, and from a hot solution crystals may be deposited on cooling. 6th. The solution is precipitated by tannic acid or tincture of galls. 7th. Alkalies, as ammonia, give a white precipitate. 8th. It is precipitated ye'lowish- white by terchloride of gold, whereas morphia reduces gold. The precipitate with gold is not re-dissolved by boiling, but the liquid acquires a pink-red color, and on the other hand morphia gives the metallic gold in powder. 9th. The red color by nitric acid is discharged by chloride of tin. 10th. It is unaffected by sesquichloride of iron or iodic acid and starch ; it is thus also distinguished from morphia. 11th. Potash pre- cipitates the alkaloid from its salt, and it is not easily re-dissolved by * These tests are taken from Taylor's Medical Jurisprudence.