CYTISINE (Ulexin, Sophorin), C11H14N20  , an alkaloid discovered in 1818 by J . B .. Chevreul in the seeds of laburnum (Cytisus Laburnum) and isolated by A . Husemann and W . Marme in 1865 (Zeit. f . Chemie, 1865, i.p . 161) . It is also found in the seeds of furze (Ulex europaeus), Sophora tormentosa, and Euchresta horsfieldii . It is extracted from the seeds by an corresponding to the longitudinal, the large flagellum to the transverse flagellum of that group . The reproduction of Noctiluca has been fairly made out; in the adult state it divides by fission down the oral groove; as a preliminary the external differentiations disappear, and the nucleus divides by modified mitosis; then the external organs are regenerated . Under circumstances not well made out, After E . Ray Lankester, Ency .

Brit., 9th ed . Cystoflagellate

Protozoa . 1 and 2, Young stages of Noctiluca miliaris . a, the big flagellum; the unlettered filament be-comes the oral flagellum of the adult . n, nucleus . s, the so-called spine (super- ficial ridge of the adult) . 3 and 4, Two stages in the fission of Noctiluca miliaris, Suriray . n, nucleus . N, food-particles . t, muscular flagellum . 5 . Noctiluca miliaris, viewed from the aboral side (after Allman, Quart .

Jour . Mic . Sci., 1872) . a, entrance to

atrium or flagellar fossa (=longitudinal groove of Dinoflagellata) . e, superficial ridge . d, big flagellum (=flagellum of transverse groove of Dinoflagellata) . h, nucleus . 6 . Noctiluca miliaris, acted upon by iodine solution, showing the protoplasm shrunk away from the structureless pellicle . a =entrance to atrium . 7 . Lateral view of Noctiluca miliaris .

a, entrance to atrium . b, atrium . c, superficial ridge . d, big flagellum . e=mouth and gullet, in which is seen Krohn's oral flagellum ( =the

chief flagellum, or flagellum of the longitudinal groove of Dinoflagellata) . broad process of protoplasm extending from the superficial ridge c to the central protoplasm . duplicature of pellicle in connexion with superficial ridge . h, nucleus . conjugation between two adults takes place by their fusion commencing at the oral region; flagella and pharynx disappear and the nuclei fuse, while the cytoplasts condense into a sphere . The nucleus undergoes broad division, the young nuclei pass to the surface, which becomes imperfectly divided by grooves into as many rounded prominences as there are nuclei (up to 128 or 256); and these become constricted off from the residual useless cytoplasm as zoospores with two unequal flagella, which were at first regarded as Dinoflagellates, of which they have f, g, alcoholic solution of acetic acid, and forms large crystals which melt at 1J3° C., and are easily soluble in water, alcohol and chloroform . It is a secondary and tertiary di-acid base, and is strongly alkaline in its reaction . Hydrogen peroxide oxidizes it to oxycytisine, CuH14N2O2, chromic acid to an acid, CnH9NO3, and potassium permanganate to oxalic acid and ammonia .

It acts as a violent

poison . See further, P . C . Plugge, Arch. der Pharm . (1891), 229, p . 48 et seq.; A . Partheil, Ber . (189o), 23, p . 3201, Arch. der Pharm . (1892), 230, p . 448 ;M . Freund and A .

Friedmann, Ber . (1901), 34, p . 615; and, J . Herzig and H . Meyer, Monats. f . Chem . (1897), 18, p . 379 .