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samples. With water the bark gives a very bitter, brown extract, which 
remains clear on standing and which is not affected by iron salts. Lead 
acetate gives a yellowish-white, flocculent precipitate in the aqueous 
solution ; basic lead acetate, added to the filtrate, gives a further precip- 
itate, but neither of these substances throws down the alkaloid. After 
removing the excess of lead salts, the latter is to be found in the filtrate. 
This is contrary to the observation of Hildewein,’ according to whom 
lead acetate precipitates the bitter substance. 
On extraction with alcohol the bark yields a very large amount of 
a gummy solid much of which is physically similar to gutta-percha, so 
that it is almost impossible to hope to separate the alkaloids from the 
alcoholic extract. Ether takes only indifferent substances from the 
bark, which separate out as a brownish, gummy mass. Petroleum ether 
extracts a large quantity of resins and gutta-percha-like bodies and, by 
shaking out the petroleum ether extract from large amounts of bark 
with dilute acids, one obtains only exceedingly small amounts of an 
alkaloid which seems to be ditamine. Some of the resins which are 
extracted by petroleum ether can be crystallized from aleohol or acetone 
and Hesse’? has described several, namely: Echitin, echerein, echitein, 
echiretin, ekikautschin. I have obtained fine, white, crystalline resins 
in large amounts which corresponded to some of these, but as tests on 
animals showed them to be physiologically inactive, I have not deemed 
it worth while to follow the subject further. They all appear to be 
oxidized terpenes, the formula of all of them being resoluble into 
(C,H,).O,. Chloroform extracts no alkaloid from the bark, while 
Prollius’s mixture takes up a highly elastic, white gum which only con- 
tains a very small amount of alkaloid. 
Very dilute hydrochloric acid extracts all of the alkaloid, and it is 
this solvent which Gruppe used to obtain his ditain. On neutralizing 
with ammonia, a brownish precipitate is formed which corresponds to 
his ditain, but which in my experience contains no alkaloid, or at best 
only traces.** Hesse made this same observation and concluded that 
the substance thus obtained is principally calcium oxalate. His bark 
showed 10.4 per cent ash, principally chalk, as against 3.3 per cent for 
my highest figure. 
METHODS OF SEPARATION OF THE DITA ALKALOIDS. 
To obtain the dita alkaloids in quantity I have used two methods: 
(a) The first follows very closely that used by Hesse. The finely ground bark 
is extracted hot with petroleum ether by aid of a reflux condenser. The solvent 
is then distilled to a small volume and shaken out with dilute acids, the latter - 
made alkaline with ammonia, ete. In this way 0.1 to 0.2 gram of ditamine is 
"Pharm. Centralhalle f. Deutschland (1873), 26. 
* Loc. cit. 
‘’ Seven experiments on five different lots of bark. 
Vea 
