Abstract
THE sessional inaugural lecture to the Chemical Society of University College, Dublin, was delivered on February 3 by Prof. J. W. Cook, regius professor of chemistry, University of Glasgow, who spoke on colchicine. Colchicum, a drug of great antiquity, is extracted from meadow saffron (Colchicum autumnale). It is present in all parts of the plant, especially in the seeds, which contain up to 0· 75 per cent of the active principle. The poisonous nature of colchicum was known to Dioscorides ; its toxic symptoms and its only therapeutic use, in the treatment of gout, are described in "The Herball", by John Gerarde, published in 1597. Colchicine, the active principle of colchicum, was isolated by Pelletier in 1820, but was not obtained pure and crystalline until 1915. Its composition and its functional groups were investigated by Zeisel, and the main features of its molecular structure were established by Windaus in 1924.
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Colchicine, its Chemical and Biological Properties. Nature 161, 554 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/161554b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/161554b0