Hellebores

Two unnamed alkaloids have also been deseribed. One was obtained by Bredemann in work on the alkaloids of white hellebore it occurred in the mother liquors from protoveratrine crystallisation and formed spherical aggregates of needles, m.p. 239-241°. The other was isolated by. Jacobs and Craig during a chromatographic analysis of residual, benzene-soluble alkaloids of green hellebore. It is represented by the formula C27H41 (39)04N, crystallises in six-sided platelets or flat needles, sinters about 130°, effervesces at 170-5°, and on further heating solidifies and finally melts at 272-4° it has [a]n ° — 78° (MeOH). 

Sabadilla Seeds. Processes for the isolation of the total alkaloids and separation of the components have been published by Wright and Luff, by Bosetti and by G. Merck. The more modem methods used by Poethke, Saito, Seiferle et al., Jacobs and Craig, and others for the alkaloids of white and green hellebores (see below) could no doubt also be used to advantage for sabadilla seed. A test for galenical preparations of sabadilla has been devised by Ramstad depending on the presence of chelidonie acid in the seed. ... 

ChrisNpalmSl, n. castor oil. -wurz, /. black hellebore spring pheasant s-eye (Adonis vernalia),... 

Germano-. germanous, germanium(II). -sulfid, n. germanous sulfide, germanium(II) sulfide. Germer, m. white hellebore (Veratrum). 

Eratz-kupfer, n. copper from waste, -messing, n. brass cuttings, -wurzel, /. white hellebore (root). 

Nies-gas, n. (Mil.) sneeze gas. -kraut, n. sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica). -wurz, -wurzelj /.-hellebore. 

Weihnachten, f.pl. Christmas. Weihnachtswurzel, /. black hellebore. Weihrauch, m. incense specif., frankincense, ohbanum. -harz, n. incense resin specif., frankincense. 

With the present major emphasis on the preparation and testing of a seemingly endless number of synthetic organic compounds for pesticidal activity and the clamor over their possible adverse effects on public health and our general environment, comparatively few people realize that certain natural insecticides have been used by man for centuries. The ancient Romans apparently utilized false hellebore as a rodenticide and insecticide (13), and preparations of Tripterygium ivilfordii (thunder-god vine) and Derris species have been employed by the Chinese for hundreds of years as insecticides (16). The insecticidal properties of sabadilla (from Schoenocaulon species) were known in the sixteenth century tobacco was in use as... 

Tough and chunky material will compost much more quickly if chopped up into smaller pieces. Hire a shredder for occasional use, or if buying one, try out a range—some are much quieter and easier to use than others. It is essential to wear adequate safety protection when using a shredder. Never use it in a confined space be very careful when shredding plants such as laurel and hellebore, which contain toxins. 

Flowering in the darkest days of winter in mild regions, hellebores are ideal for a raised bed, where their drooping flowers ean be seen at eloser guarters. 

Resveratrol has a long history. It was initially isolated from the roots of white hellebore in 1940. No one paid much attention. In 1963, it was isolated from a plant used for centuries in traditional Japanese and Chinese medicine. Again, this did not attract much attention. The story got a lot hotter in 1992 when the presence of resveratrol in red wine was suggested to be associated with the cardioprotective effects of red wine. 

Other plants known to contain psychoactive compounds include hellebore, which was used for centuries in Europe to treat mania, violent temper, mental retardation and epilepsy. However, a drug of major importance in modern psychopharmacology arose from the discovery by medicinal chemists of the alkaloids of Rauwolfia serpentina, a root which had been used in the Indian subcontinent for centuries, not only for the treatment of snake bite but also for alleviating "insanity". Understandably, the mechanism of action of reserpine, the alkaloid purified from Rauwolfia serpentina, helped to lay the basis to psychopharmacology by demonstrating how the depletion of central and peripheral stores of biogenic amines was correlated with a reduction in blood pressure and tranquillization. 

Glycosides isolated from leaves of various types of foxglove Digitalis lanta. Digitalis purpurea, and strophanthus Strophantus kombe, and also a number of other plants (hhes, periploca, oleander, hellebore, erysimum, jute, Irish ballon), which exhibit a direct effect on the myocardium and which strengthen its contractions. 

Heart nerves - decreased Lily, hellebore, death Alkaloids, aconitum,... 

Apart from psychopharmaceuticals in the spiritual sense, at all times and in most cultures psychotropic plant drugs have played a role in religious practices, magic rituals and healing. The substances best known in Europe and the Mediterranean area are opium, hashish and hellebore in the medicine of India and other southeast Asian countries, ramvolfia traditionally has been of great significance (Wittern. 1983). 

Hellebore root has been the psychopharmaceutical agent par excellence at various times. It is a plant of the Ranunculaceae family, the roots of which, as we now know, contain several glycosides, some of them rather toxic. White hellebore was traditionally used as an emetic (Vomitivum) and black hellebore as a laxative (Purgativum) in both cases the guiding principle was that a mental illness has a physical cause that can be treated by physical effects,... 

Hellebore found a very wide range of uses mania, melancholy, inflammation of the brain and mental retardation were included among the indications just as much as epilepsy, hydrophobia, violent temper and crazy ideas (Wittem, 1983. p. 14). White and black hellebore could be combined and there is no difficulty in believing the ancient authors when they state that the simultaneous emetic and laxative treatment has a good calming effect The use of hellebore declined in the nineteenth century because the product is difficult to dose and can induce seizures in higher doses. 

The precursors of modem psychopharmaceuticals. Le. opium, hellebore and rauwolfia, cannot be considered in isolation but only by reference to their contemporary healing arts. Mental illnesses and their possible treatment have confronted people with the same questions at all times where do the irrational ideas and impulses of the insane come from their moods, notions, anxiety and illogical behavior Have these people sinned so that God has now cast an evil spirit into them as a punishment What is this evil spirit a spirit of nature, the ghost of an ancestor, a devil Or is it the patient s sick body that produces the delusions without an outside agent an unknown disease, a poison from within ... 

Because mental illnesses are due to an imbalance between the body fluids, treatment must seek to restore the balance. Methods directed to the body were recommended, such as diet, bathing and showering, blood-letting and laxatives (hellebore). 

Poisonous substances described by Dioscorides include conium, strychnia, colchicum, aconitum, the poppy, hellebore, and the mandragora. From the last named, a wine is made which produces so heavy, long continued and unconscious a sleep that physicians perform difficult operations by its use. Pliny also says that it is given before incisions or punctures are made in the body, in order to ensure insensibility to pain. 

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