[506] Dragendorff has found atropine in the urine of rabbits fed with belladonna; the separation by the poison is so rapid that it often can only be recognised in the urine during the first hour after the poison has been taken.
TABLE SHOWING THE ALKALOIDAL CONTENT OF VARIOUS PARTS OF THE HENBANE PLANT.
| Plant Destitute of Flowers. | Plant in Flower. | Plant in Fruit. | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyosc.- Albus. | Hyosc.- Niger. | Hyosc.- Albus. | Hyosc.- Niger. | Hyosc.- Albus. | Hyosc.- Niger. | |||||||
| 1868. | 1869. | 1868. | 1869. | 1868. | 1869. | 1868. | 1869. | 1868. | 1869. | 1868. | 1869. | |
| Seeds, | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | 0·162 | 0·172 | 0·075 | 0·118 |
| Leaves, | 0·588 | 0·469 | 0·154 | 0·192 | 0·359 | 0·329 | 0·147 | 0·206 | 0·211 | 0·153 | 0·065 | 0·110 |
| Stalk, | 0·012 | ... | 0·070 | 0·017 | 0·036 | 0·048 | 0·032 | 0·030 | 0·027 | 0·029 | 0·009 | 0·010 |
| Root, | 0·128 | 0·176 | 0·027 | 0·080 | 0·146 | 0·262 | 0·127 | 0·138 | 0·106 | 0·086 | 0·028 | 0·056 |
2. HYOSCYAMINE.
§ 456. This powerful alkaloid is contained in small quantities in datura and belladonna, and also is found in the common lettuce (·001 per cent.),[507] and in Scopola carmolica, a solanaceous plant indigenous to Austria and Hungary[508]; but its chief source is the Hyoscyamus niger and Hyoscyamus alba (black and white henbane): it is also found in the Duboisia myoporoides. The latter plant was considered to contain a new alkaloid, “Duboisine,” but duboisine is a mixture of hyoscyamine and hyoscine. Ladenburg’s hyoscine accompanies hyoscyamine, and is an isomeride of both atropine and hyoscyamine; its chemical reactions are similar to those of hyoscyamine, as well as its physiological effects.[509]
[507] T. S. Dymond, Journ. Chem. Soc. Trans., 1892, 90.