Chem. [see -IN.] The bitter principle of colocynth, resembling a semi-transparent resin, and readily soluble in alcohol.
1830. Lindley, Nat. Syst. Bot., 193.
1840. Henry, Elem. Chem., II. 333. It contains the bitterness of the colocynth, and appears … to be a particular principle, for which he proposes the name of colocyntine.
1876. Bartholow, Mat. Med. (1879), 481. Colocynthine is a very powerful cathartic.
