[584] Schmiedeberg, op. cit., from unpublished researches of Professor H. Meyer, Dorpat.
§ 554. Thevetin (C54H48O2).—A glucoside which has been separated from the Thevetia nereifolia, and perhaps also from the Cerbera Odallam. It is soluble in 124 parts of water at 14°, and is easily soluble in spirit, but not in ether. It is coloured by sulphuric acid red-brown, passing into cherry-red, and then, in a few hours, into violet. On boiling with diluted acids, it splits up into sugar and theveresin. Both thevetin and theveresin are powerful heart poisons.[585]
[585] Husemann, Archiv f. exper. Path. u. Pharmakol., Bd. v., S. 228, 1876.
2. SUBSTANCES PARTLY CRYSTALLISABLE BUT WHICH ARE NOT GLUCOSIDES.
§ 555. Strophantin is a very poisonous substance which belongs physiologically to this group, but does not seem to be a glucoside. It is soluble in water and in alcohol, less so in ether and chloroform. It is found in the kombé, manganja, inée, or onaje, a West African poison derived from the Strophanthus hispidus of the family of Apocynaceæ. The poison has been investigated by several observers.[586]