The gentle saponification of cevadine and so-called veratrine yields a new alkanolamine, veracevine. Further treatment with alkali progressively isomerizes veracevine to cevagenine and finally cevine. The mild saponification conditions used for its formation and a study of its ultraviolet and infrared spectra, demonstrate that veracevine and not cevine or cevagenine is the genuine alkanolamine present in ester form in the principal constituents of veratrine. Veracevine, like cevine, contains one double bond and eight hydroxyl groups. Germine has been similarly isomerized to an unsaturated base analogous to cevine, and given the trivial name pseudogermine. © 1953, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.