 Two French scientists, Lassaigne and Feneulle, were the first to isolate an alkaloid, called delphinine from "D. staphisagria" seeds in 1819.The completely correct molecular structure of delphinine was not determined until 1971, due to the chemical complexity of this substance coupled with the technical limitations of the time.However, it was established quite early that delphinine was a member of the diterpenoid family of alkaloids, and it is often cited in Handbooks of poisonous plants as being a representative toxin of the genus "Delphinium".