De Jong1 of Amsterdam demonstrated that the tremor of paralysis agitans may be controlled by the use of bulbocapnin, and by administering larger doses of this drug to cats he produced a syndrome simulating catatonia. He first reported this work from the Binnen-Gasthuis of Amsterdam. His original problem was the experimental production of catatonia, and followed the work of Frölich and Meyer on "Katalepsie."2
Bulbocapnin is one of eleven alkaloids from Corydalis cava. The nineteenth edition of the United States Dispensatory gives four alkaloids in this plant, one of which is bulbocapnin, but Gademar of Marburg has isolated eleven. He has developed a process by which the pure alkaloid may be isolated from the plant. The bulbocapnin of the United States Dispensatory, being combined with other alkaloids, is extremely toxic, and should not be used in the doses herein mentioned. De Jong obtains his bulbocapnin from Gademar, and