Hemlock, Comum

The natives of Peril were learning to ease their physical pains by chewing the leaves of coca shrub (Erytbroxylon tmxillence, "Rushy), which contain, among others, the alkaloid cocaine (11), and European citizens were recognizing other poisons such as coniine (12), from die poison hemlock ( Comum maculatum... 

Coniine (12), implicated by Plato in the death of Socrates, is the major toxic constituent of Comum mamlatum L. (poison hemlock) and, as pointed out earlier, was apparently the first alkaloid to be synthesized. For years it was thought that coniine was derived from lysine (24), as were many of its obvious relatives containing reduced piperidine nuclei and a side chain, eg, pelletierine (46). However, it is now known (99) that coniine is derived from a polyketooctanoic acid [7028-40-2] (138), C8H10O5, or some other similar straight chain analogue. 

Comum Fruit, Hemlock poison hemlock spotted hemlock poison parsley spotted cowbane, Full-grown, but unripe, carefully dried fruit of Conium maculatum L., Um-belUferae. Habit. Europe, Asia, naturalized in U.S. Constit. 0.5 15% coniine, conhydrine, pseudoconhydrine, methyl-coniine, ethylpi peri dine, comic acid, volatile and fixed oil. Has antispasmodic activity. 

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