De” oo es ee, |e Se ee Ee + ” — a & whe. ee, . re . iw 
! 1010 
. The identity of Gruppe’s ditain is very doubtful. ‘Tavera states that 
; the dose of it is the same as that of quinine; hence it could not have 
been echitamine, the principal alkaloid of dita, as this substance in com- 
| parison with quinine is exceedingly poisonous. 
: As to the important medical results obtained, I was informed, by a 
y European physician who was stationed in Manila at the time of Dr. 
Pina’s tests, that the testimony of cures, ete., was made in reply to a 
request for quinine from the provinces where malaria was raging in 
epidemic form. Quinine was considered too expensive, so that the rural 
inhabitants were given ditain, while at the same time a statement as to 
; its efficiency in place of quinine was made. ‘The above statement gains 
in probability in view of the physiological behavior of dita, which I have 
found to be not at all like that of quinine. 
Later, more important researches on dita bark were made by Jobst and Hesse * 
and by Harnack.* Harnack claimed that there is but one alkaloid in dita bark, 
which alkaloid he called ditain, and which is not to be confused with the impure 
product of Gruppe. He claimed that ditain is really a glucoside because, after 
/ boiling with hydrochloric acid, it reduces Fehling’s solution. Hesse found several 
alkaloids in the bark which he studied, namely, ditamine, echitamine, echitenine, 
and oxyechitamine. Of these echitamine was found to be present in largest 
amounts and was the most thoroughly studied. A number of salts were prepared 
and analyzed, the formula O©,,H.,N.0O, + H,O being established. Harnack® replied 
to the work of Hesse and reasserted his claim that there is but one alkaloid 
in dita bark; and he maintained that his ditain was identical with the 
ditamine of Hesse. Gorup-Besanez*® examined Gruppe’s ditain chemically and 
succeeded in obtaining from it a small amount of a crystalline substance which 
was apparently an alkaloid, but the amount of the latter which he isolated was 
too small to admit of any further examination. 
ae a. Pee eae 
As the bark is quite easily accessible in the Philippines, I have 
obtained and am investigating a large quantity. It is of a yellowish- 
brown color and from 1 to 12 millimeters thick. The outer layer has 
a scaly appearance because of its longitudinal and transverse fissures 
and is not infrequently marked with small, black spots. The bark breaks 
with rather a brittle fracture and this makes it easy to powder when 
dry; it is odorless and of a bitter taste which varies greatly in different 
samples. Some lots are exceedingly bitter, but with others this taste 
does not develop until the bark has been chewed for some time. The 
outer bark is always much more bitter than the inner, corky layer; 
in fact many pieces of the latter are tasteless. The wood of the tree 
and the bark of young twigs are not bitter and contain no alkaloid. 
In the air dry bark I found 15.2 per cent of moisture (determined at 
105°) and 3.29, 3.14, and 2.67 per cent, respectively, of ash in three 
“C —S op eee 1 eee ee el ee, 
J 
a 
j 
TAnn. Chem. (Liebig) (1875), 178, 49; Ibid (1880), 203, 144; Ber. d. chem. 
Ges. (1880), 13, 1648. 
8 Arch. f. Exp. Path. u. Pharmakol. (1887), 7, 126. 
® Ber. d. chem. Ges. (1878), 11, 2004. 
” Ann. Chem. (Liebig) (1887), 176, 88. 
