Adjacent Words

strychnina definitions

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Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Strychnine Strych"nine, n. [L. strychnos a kind of nightshade, Gr. ?: cf. F. strychnine.] (Chem.) A very poisonous alkaloid resembling brucine, obtained from various species of plants, especially from species of Loganiace[ae], as from the seeds of the St. Ignatius bean (Strychnos Ignatia) and from nux vomica. It is obtained as a white crystalline substance, having a very bitter acrid taste, and is employed in medicine (chiefly in the form of the sulphate) as a powerful neurotic stimulant. Called also strychnia, and formerly strychnina.