VERATRINE

is a vegetable alkali, of a poisonous nature, extracted from the seeds of the Veratrum sabadilla , the roots of the Veratrum album , or white hellebore, and of Colchicum autumn ale , or meadow saffron, in which plants it exists combined chiefly with gallic acid. It is obtained in the form of a white powder. It has an acrid, burning taste, but without any bitterne ; it has no smell; but when snuffed into the nostrils, it excites violent and dangerous sneezing. It melts at a heat of 122° F., and concretes, on cooling, into a transparent yellowish ma . It restores the blue colour of reddened litmus paper. It is hardly soluble in water or ether, but abundantly in alcohol. It consists of—carbon 66·75, hydrogen 8·54, nitrogen 5·04, and oxygen 19·60. Its saline compounds have an acrid and burning taste. Veratrine resembles strychnine and brucine, in its effects upon living bodies, producing tetanus and death in a moderate dose; notwithstanding which, it has been prescribed by some of our poison doctors, especially mixed with hog’s lard, in the form of frictions on the forehead, for nervous maladies; but seldom, I believe, with any good effects.