BRUCINE

C₂₃H₂₆N₂O₄, an alkaloid isolated in 1819 by J. Pelletier and J.B. Caventou from "false Angustura bark." It crystallizes in prisms with four molecules of water; when anhydrous it melts at 178°. It is very similar to strychnine (q.v.), both chemically and physiologically.