Veratrine is a mixture of the alkaloids cevadine, veratridine, cevadilline, sabadine, and cevine.  It comes from the seeds of Schoenocaulon officinale.

V1. Veratrine dissolves in concentrated sulfuric add which is free from nitrogen compounds to a colorless solution. On warming it changes to a crimson red. In the ordinary chemi-cally pure acid it makes a yellow solution, changing to an orange, then blood red and, in half an hour, to a carmine red The addition of a minute quantity of nitric acid hastens these changes.

V2. When warmed a few minutes in a small test-tube with 1 cc of concentrated hydrochloric acid the latter is colored a reddish-violet. No other alkaloid gives this reaction.

V3. If mixed with 6 times the amount of cane-sugar, then moistened with concentrated sulfuric acid (only a little being added from a glass rod, not enough to make a solution) veratrine gives a dark green color, becoming purple and then blue in a few minutes. From the action of the acid on the sugar it finally turns brown and black.