brucine

An alkaloid from Strychnos nux-vomica and S. ignatii (family Loganiaceae), that produces paralysis of sensory nerves and peripheral motor nerves; the convulsive action which is characteristic of strychnine is almost entirely absent; formerly used as a local anodyne and tonic. [fr. Brucea sp., a shrub, after James Bruce, Scottish explorer, †1794]

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bru·cine 'brü-.sēn n a poisonous alkaloid C₂₃H₂₆N₂O₄ found with strychnine esp. in nux vomica

Bruce 'brüs James (1730-1794)

British explorer. Bruce is famous primarily for his journey in 1768-1773 to the source of the Blue Nile in Ethiopia. In the course of his travels he encountered a new tree (Brucea antidysenterica) and introduced the seeds to Great Britain. In 1779 the genus containing this tree was named in his honor. In 1819 a new alkaloid was isolated from a sample of bark erroneously thought to be from this tree. The alkaloid was called brucine after the botanist although it was later discovered that the bark was actually from the nux vomica.

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bru·cine (brooґsēn) [from Brucea, a genus of shrubs named for J. Bruce, Scottish explorer, 1730–1794] a poisonous alkaloid, from Strychnos ignatii and S. nux-vomica, which resembles strychnine in its action, but is less poisonous. One of the principal constituents of nux vomica and ignatia, it was formerly used in the same manner as strychnine (q.v.).