=ACONITIA, CRYSTALLISED.= C_{27}H_{40}NO_{10}. Exhaust the root of wild aconite, carefully picked and powdered, with very strong alcohol, to which 1 per cent. of tartaric acid has been added. Distil at a gentle heat, and sheltered from the air, to recover the alcohol. Treat the extract with water to separate all the fatty and resinous matters. The solution which contains the aconite in the state of acid tartrate is first shaken with ether to remove colouring matters, and then the alkaloid is set free by the addition of alkaline bicarbonate, until the cessation of effervescence. A fresh treatment with ether of this alkaline solution removes the alkaloid, which crystallizes upon the concentration of the ethereal liquid, with an addition of petroleum spirit. The crystals are colourless tables, rhombic or hexagonal, according to the modifications produced principally in the acute angles. Crystallized aconitia is soluble in alcohol, ether, benzine, and chloroform; insoluble in petroleum oils and glycerine. ACONITIA NITRATE, CRYSTALLISED. Crystallised aconitine q. s.; nitric acid, sp. gr. 1·442, q. s. Saturate the nitric acid with the aconitine and evaporate. Voluminous crystals are easily obtained (from ‘Formulæ for New Medicaments adopted by the Paris Pharmaceutical Society’).——‘Pharm. Journal.’ Owing to the decomposition which this alkaloid undergoes in the animal organism, as well as to its liability to decompose during the process of evaporation, and exposure to the air, it often becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain it in a separate state in conducting a _post-mortem_ examination. The physiological effects seem to furnish the most prominent and characteristic evidence of its presence in such cases, or at any rate these may serve as a valuable guide to the toxicologist. Uncrystallised aconitia is sometimes contaminated with delphinia, as well as with aconella, another constituent of aconite root. For the dissection of these see ALKALOIDS. One fiftieth of a grain of aconitia is stated to have killed a dog. _Antidotes._ See ACONITE. =ACONITIC ACID.= (Identical with _Pyrocitric Acid_.) An acid extracted by Peschier from _aconitum napellus_, and by Bracconnot from _equisetum fluviatile_. It exists in these plants chiefly in the form of aconitate of calcium. _Properties._ A white, colourless, semi-crystalline mass. =ACONITINA.= See ACONITIA. =ACONITINE.= See ACONITIA. =ACONI′TUM.= [L.] Aconite. The pharmacopœial name of _aconitum napellus_(see _below_). =Aconitum Ferox.= (Ind. P.) _Habitat_. Temperate and sub-Alpine Himalaya, at 10,000 to 14,000 feet elevation, from Gurhwal to Sikkim. _Officinal part._ The dried root (_Aconiti ferocis Radix_), in common with those of other Himalayan species, viz., _aconitum napellus_, _a. palmatum_, and _a. luridum_, constitutes the drug well known in the bazaars of Upper India under the Hindostani name of _Bish_ or _Bikh_.