Seven New Poisons Discovered At University

SEVEN NEW POISONS DISCOVERED AT UNIVERSITY

The discovery of seven new poisons by Julius O. Schlotterbeck, professor of pharmacognosy and botany in the University will be noted within the next few days throughout the entire country as one of the most important contributions to science during the last decade.

The poisons are all distinct, though three of them are made from the same vine. They will be used for medicinal purposes and experiments to test their properties on the lower animals now in preparation. Three of the poisons are made from the Alleghany vine, which grows in abundance on porches all about this section of the state. Beside the known poison, protopine, made from this vine, the professor has extracted poisons which he has name adlumine and adlurnidine and one still unnamed. The University of Michigan has the largest supply of protopine in the world. This poison has been known for some years and is nearly as strong as morphine. Whether the other three new poisons possess different qualities is yet a matter to be determined.

From the celandine poppy the professor has extracted the fourth and fifth poisons, called stylopine and disphylline and from the Japanese celandine the poison bacconidine and one yet unnamed.

The process for extracting the poisons has necessitated the invention of a machine by several professors, which they have called a separator. It consists of three cylinders, arranged in triangular position. In the first is placed the vine which is ground very finely, in the second is a coil of iron surrounded by cold water and in the third is placed chloroform. As the chloroform evaporates and passes through the coil it is condensed and runs in on the pulp which then becomes a slimy and muddy green substance. This is then mixed with acetic acid and looks very much like water. After it has been stirred several days the poison is removed from the chloroform. Then in order to remove the acetic acid the substance is mixed with ammonia and turns a milk color. After this the ammonia is removed by either which when it evaporates leaves icy crystals on the bottom of the glass. There pass through several stages. At each change a different poison is formed. It is said that it sometimes takes months to separate the poison even when this far in the process. Out of twenty-five pounds of the Alleghany vine used this fall for the extraction of three of the seven new poisons, there were only two ounces of them combined. This same process is used for the Japanese Celandine and the Celandine poppy.